Treasury has released some key messages from submissions for its Retirement Income Consultation Paper, with increasing compulsory savings targets one of the most commonly requested changes.
According to the government body, a frequent request was to increase the compulsory superannuation guarantee (SG) from 9 per cent to either 12 or 15 per cent.
Some submissions said upping the SG in this manner would help increase the retirement incomes of people with broken work patterns.
Other submissions suggested the government increase its co-contribution and extend it to more individuals in order to raise the level of voluntary savings in the community.
Improving the number of tax concessions associated with superannuation was another common theme among submissions.
Areas some participants thought needed attention were greater deductibility of contributions, the length of time over which people can contribute to super and the treatment of non-superannuation income.
Calls were also made to allow insurance cover purchased outside of super to have the same tax deductibility as insurance policies taken out within superannuation.
Longevity was another key topic concerning industry groups, with many suggesting people be compelled to take all or part of their superannuation entitlement as a guaranteed income for life.
There were also calls to reintroduce an assets test exemption to encourage individuals to take up income streams.
There was overall support among submissions for the current three pillar system, but some suggested altering the way the three pillars interact.
