Having lived in Australia I have to say the system there is pretty good. It's 10% employer contribution on earnings over $400 per month (so a very low threshhold), also payable on casual earnings etc if they are over this threshold. Personally i have never paid the slightest attention to pensions & always done low paid trendy jobs in the arts sector, but 12 or so years of work there from age 20-35 or so left me with a pot of $80,000 (€50,000) so far and I still have another 30 years to work & save. Individuals can contribute if they like and get tax relief, I think it's taxed at a flat rate of 15% on any personal contributions up to a set maximum. There are also tax concessions to encourage downsizing, for people selling large family homes to contribute tax free on a one off basis (I know because my parents are out there and considering doing just that).
I love that it just happened for me when i was in my 20s and not interested whatsoever but working full time before we had kids. I feel that's the time that will make the most difference over the long haul. so i agree with Brendan on the 6% for everyone. Also agree that it will mean the most to women/low paid people etc, so setting the threshold at €20k really defeats the purpose of it.
And now as one of the disinterested low income self employed here, I think there needs to be some carrot and stick approach. Maybe it could be taken along with the compulsory PRSI and matched by government? So say if I earned under 15k or something, I'd be forced to pay say 3% and government would match it to get my 6%? In Australia there is some kind of low income government contribution too, I think if you earn below a certain threshold and make individual contributions, they will match it up to a set amount. Something like that could also encourage low paid self employed people to contribute?
It's only now that I realise what a visionary thing it was for Australia to have set this up way back in the 90s. A similar system here would be great.
I love that it just happened for me when i was in my 20s and not interested whatsoever but working full time before we had kids. I feel that's the time that will make the most difference over the long haul. so i agree with Brendan on the 6% for everyone. Also agree that it will mean the most to women/low paid people etc, so setting the threshold at €20k really defeats the purpose of it.
And now as one of the disinterested low income self employed here, I think there needs to be some carrot and stick approach. Maybe it could be taken along with the compulsory PRSI and matched by government? So say if I earned under 15k or something, I'd be forced to pay say 3% and government would match it to get my 6%? In Australia there is some kind of low income government contribution too, I think if you earn below a certain threshold and make individual contributions, they will match it up to a set amount. Something like that could also encourage low paid self employed people to contribute?
It's only now that I realise what a visionary thing it was for Australia to have set this up way back in the 90s. A similar system here would be great.