median may be more meaningful, but it is not the thread topic.

super ?

when i was really grinding in my 40's i was basicly working 51 and 1/2 weeks a year.
didnt have time for a haircut

accountant would tell me to take more out of the business but myself and my wife always understood that

'your happiness is the differnece between what you have and what you want"
and its much easier to just want less (the best things in life truly are free).

anyway, the accountant always said that rather then pay tax on the business surplus funds, dump it in super .

and john howard let you dump 50 k a year
(effectively at the marginal rate, you only lost 25 k and the government chipped in 25 k)
i think for a few years there , you could even dump 100k  and same went for the wife

(there may or may not have been a 15 % contributions tax back then.)

either way , for about 10 yrs i dumped the max.

never thought about it
i was totally focused on the business

and (gods truth) i didnt look at the balance for 10 yrs
it was with HESTA as my wife was with hesta and i thought the nurses union wouldnt rip off nurses and they were happy to take my cash (despite me not being in health).

anyway i did look at the balance a few years back and i was stunned

i thought it would be about a mill, it was close to 2.

i dont need it
i dont want it
the idea of retiring to a beach and lazing about is poisonous to me

it may well tank if the stock market tanks
who knows

the only thing i like about it is if i fall off a horse the kids get a house each

but the daughter already out earns me, so now i really dont need it

the missus has a profoung hate for noisy neighbours with loud cars and loud trail bikes

so i have told her if we ever get neighbours like that we will move and buy a place on 500 acres with the house in the middle of the block so we can have peace


so it does give me some peace of mind

other then that, its just a number

who cares

buying a lot of crap i dont need would deplete my quality of life because then you have to spend time looking after "said crap"

you never want a dollar you didnt earn and i dont even see how i earned it

it doesnt feel like the money i got from my customers

it feels like a ponzi scheme of funny money and if it goes, i shant miss it 

aquascoot wrote on Sep 5^th, 2024 at 9:28pm:

So that was you and your son, then!

MeisterEckhart wrote on Sep 5^th, 2024 at 10:51pm:


You would prefer the people went homeless?

Do you really think you should have the right to tell people they are not allowed to decide for themselves what standard of housing they buy or rent?

BTW, that has nothing at all to do with why genuine slums form.

Letting people choose for themselves seems like a simple solution.

The government funded pension age of 67 should be lower.  A pension age of 65 is more than enough.   

Bobby. wrote on Sep 7^th, 2024 at 3:42pm:


How many slums have you been to Bobby?

Those are completely different phenomena Bobby. A lot of the places in the US are pretty much the opposite of a slum. The buildings are run down because everyone left down. The drug dealers and homeless people then moved in, because there was basically free housing, or close to it. But that does not mean they caused the problem by hanging around making the place look untidy or punching holes in the wall.

You wouldn't go near a genuine slum, because of the smell.