Australia’s Super Solution to the U.S. Retirement Crisis

我们在美国有退休危机 - 其中的争论很少。预计社会保障将在2034年下破产。超过50％的美国人目前在停止工作后预计将在下行移动。大约30％的人必须每年不到20,000美元。现在的问题是，是否在这种有毒的政治环境，我们的民选官员会做有关问题的东西。然而，通过从成功改造的澳大利亚退休系统中提示，我相信我们可以找到共同点，为后代创造持久的解决方案。

Australia’s retirement system is currently ranked third in the world behind Denmark’s and the Netherlands’ with a B+ grade according to the Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index. (The U.S. gets a generous C.) It wasn’t always that way. In the 1980s,Australiahad a system similar to what we have today in the U.S. But confronted with the reality that the government pension system would run dry within decades due to greater life expectancies and medical costs, employers, unions and government came together to hammer out a good old-fashioned compromise.

Fixing Australia’s government-sponsored retirement program, called the Age Pension, was an even taller task than repairing Social Security because Australian citizens don’t pay into it — the program is funded entirely by general public revenues. But fix it the government did, providing us with a potential template to follow.

First, we need to raise the retirement age for Social Security. In Australia the retirement age will increase from 67 to 70 by 2025. We should gradually increase full Social Security eligibility from 66 to 70.

其次，应对社会保障意味着测试;也就是说，为具有高收入或资产的个人减少了益处。只有56％的澳大利亚人获得了一个完整的养老金（少量投诉）。我们还应为富裕人士创造一个自愿选择，以完全选择提供社会保障分配。

Third, the ceiling on income subject to Social Security tax should be raised from $118,500 to $250,000. Social Security payroll tax was designed to hit 90 percent of all wages, but due to a rise in income inequality now captures around 82 percent. Going forward, the ceiling should be indexed to 90 percent of total wages.

The most important revamp of Australia’s retirement system was the creation of the Superannuation Guarantee, or Super. When introduced in 1992, Super required all companies to contribute 3 percent of an employee’s annual income into an employer-sponsored retirement account. In return, unions agreed to forgo previously demanded 3 percent wage increases. The employer contribution mandate has graduated to today’s rate of 9.5 percent, with further plans to increase it to 12 percent by 2025.

But Superannuation isn’t perfect. Only 20 percent of Australians pay into their own Super funds. In the U.S. we can improve upon that by providing greater incentives for individuals to contribute.

U.S. employers should be required to set up retirement programs for employees and make mandated minimum 3 percent contributions. In exchange, unions must agree to make concessions on currentdefined pension liabilitiesand all workers must submit to an auto-enrollment provision for employer-based retirement programs. Automatic employee contributions should start at 3 percent for young workers, automatically escalating with age up to 10 percent. Employees can contribute above the minimum, with further matching at the discretion of the employer. They can also opt out of personal contributions completely, but data shows only 6 percent of those with access to employer-based retirement programs choose not to enroll. As part of broad tax reform in the U.S., the tax framework for401（k）sand IRAs should also be simplified and reduced to provide more incentive to save. Employer and salary-sacrificed contributions should be taxed progressively starting at 10 percent, escalating to a maximum of 20 percent for those making more than $400,000 a year. We should create a fully refundable earned-income tax credit for those making less than $40,000 a year. Retirement funds should then pay a flat tax rate of 10 percent on dividend income and long-term capital gains, with all withdrawals occurring tax-free.

The U.S. should also follow Australia’s plan to prohibit loans and early withdrawals from retirement accounts (barring extremely extenuating circumstances) and raise eligibility for distributions from employer-sponsored retirement accounts from 55 to 60 by 2025. Superannuation money can also be directed to private funds run by trustees, which creates a competitive marketplace that puts downward pressure on fees. In the U.S. fees for 401(k) management currently average around 1 percent.

美国可以通过借阅澳大利亚成功的退休金担保方案的想法来解决其深化的退休危机，同时也建立了一个更充分体现美国自助精神的系统。现在是所有利益攸关方来到桌子的时候，并使牺牲保障我们的孩子和孙子的未来。

Anthony Scaramucci is founder and managing partner of SkyBridge Capital and host ofWall Street Week.