The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1931. SUPERANNUATION FUNDS.

Hokitika Guardian, 29 October 1932, Page 4

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1931. SUPERANNUATION FUNDS.

The Superannuate.!-Funds Bill introduced in the House .earlier iu the week is of great importance, afFccting as it does so many contributors to the fund. The “Dominion” commenting thereon says the facts of tines position have been before the' public for some time. Briefly, they amount to this: Unless the actuarial position of the three funds ts immediately rectified, they will drift into bankruptcy, and the loss to the members will be vastly greater than the. sacrifices they are being asked to make in order to save the situation. As the Prime Minister pointed out in the House, the position has to be faced, and it would be an act of cowardice to shirk this unpleasant and painful duty. The C»vi. Servants are entitled to public sympathy in the. position with which they are finned, 1 u hardships of this kind are not peculiar to the State services. Thousands of p?'.|>Le throughout the country in other walks of life, through

no fault of their own, have had to suffer reductions of income. Private investors who thought they had made provision for .retirement in old age have discovered that this provision has been gravely depreciated, and in some instances has vanished altogether. These people can do notJj.ipg | to retrieve their position, and in that J respect are much more, unfortunately i placed than the Civil'"Servants. In j the latter oa.e, though serious damage has been done to the fund's through ilia neglect of successive Governments, tire position is not irretrievable. T- e Government’s intention is to save it before it is too late. The present weakness, which the Bill proposes to rectify, is that retiring annuities, existing and prospective, are cn . a basis for which inadequate actuarial provision has been made. To coriect this all am uities except those in force prior to I Arch 31, 1921, and those not exceeding £IOO, are to be recomputed on a basis of “actuarial retiring allowances.’' The factor in this computation is the average salary for the last ten yeai‘ s of service instead of the last three. Again, as regards _ the qualification to “retire as of right..” tlie Bill proposes to reduce the incidence of. early retirements, which throw an extra burden on fche funds. For example, a male contributor under existing conditions may retire after 40 years’ service, irrespective, of age. Under the Bill lie must, in addition to his 40 veers’ service, have reached tile age of 60. One effect of this, of course, will ho to slow down the rate of promotion, but the services cannot have it both ways. Under present conditions many Public Servants retire while still in full'mental and nhysi la I vigour, 'and take ui> positions m private enterprises while drawing full retiring allowances. That is surely an anomaly that could hardly have been contemplated when the principle of State superannuation was first adopted. Its object was provision for old age, for the years of econonvc incapacity. It is a departure from tins original principle in so many directions that has assisted to weaken the funds. Finally, the Government lias re'affirmed its liability for the payment of subsidies to the funds, which aie to be on the basis of £1 for £1 of the sums .paid by the contributors, and pledged itself to meet this liability with fixed regularity in the future. The recommendations, of the National l Expenditure Commission have stood the test of cri, ioal official examination., and the Government is to. he commended for having the moral courage to adopt them to the extent it has done. Only thus is it possible that the Public Servants can be made secure against what otherwise . would be disastrous irretrievable loss.