A Comfortable Retirement: Aussie Style, NOT FNPF

28 Sunday Aug 2011

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Fijipensioners Grey Power thought that pensioners of Fiji would be interested to read the recently published article written by Trish Power on what a comfortable retirement  would mean if we were living in Australia.

The lifestyle choices of pensioners in Australia may be different from pensioners of Fiji but the basic needs that pensioners have to meet in both countries are the same- we still have to pay for all the essentials of life after retirement.

Most people before they retire (usually about 10-15 years beforehand) start looking at their likely costs after retiring and plan accordingly. Many pay off their mortgages or other debts at an accelerated rate and do other things to start putting their retirement plans into effect after calculating what they will get as retirement income (in our case FNPF income).

By proposing to cut the pensions of people already retired the FNPF and Government will plunge the elderly people of our country into a crisis which, at their age in life, they cannot be expected to handle. The FNPF pension is not inflation adjusted and therefore already pensioners face annual diminishing returns on their original pension amounts. 

Grey Power
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Chart of the Week: The Real Pension Story

27 Saturday Aug 2011

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—By Kevin Drum

Via Paul Krugman,Dean Baker has a paper out today that explains why state pension funds are in trouble: It’s the recession, stupid. The entire shortfall can be attributed to stock market losses and underfunding in just the past four years:

Figure 1 projects pension fund assets if pensions had continued to earn on average a 4.5 percent nominal rate of return in the period since the end of 2007. Under this  assumption, state and local pension fund assets would have been $857 billion higher at the end of the third quarter of 2010.
…. In the period since the beginning of the recession, annual payments into state and local pension funds have averaged $6.9 billion less than withdrawals. By contrast, in the three years prior to the downturn, payments averaged $18.4 billion more than withdrawals. If state and local governments had continued to contribute to their pensions at the same rate as they had in the prior three years, then the total assets of these funds would be $77 billion higher than was reported at the end of the third quarter of 2010. Adding this to the $857 billion figure above results in an additional $934 billion in pension funds, a figure far higher than most estimates of the size of state and local government shortfalls.

Grey Power agrees with Mother Jones writer Kevin Drum that only small changes need to be made to pension funds to make them viable again. Apart from the suggestions he makes, Grey Power also suggests that increasing the retiring age will also make a big difference, and get rid of age discrimination at the same time. An idea for FNPF?

Grey Power.

Fiji Times, a Change of Heart ?

27 Saturday Aug 2011

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On Thursday we drew peoples attention to the fact that the Fiji Times had published a letter from an admirer of FNPF management, when they had to date declined to publish letters from pensioners.

It is possible that the FT editor has had a change of heart since a letter that did not endorse FNPF actions was published in Fridays columns of the Fiji Times and another today, Saturday 27 August.

It the interest of fairness, and for those of you who may have not seen the letters we copy them here:
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A Mothers Love

26 Friday Aug 2011

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A 25-year-old Jewish American Princess tells her mom that she has missed her period for the second month.  Her mother goes a drug store in downtown Miami to purchase a Pregnancy Test Kit. The results prove the girl is pregnant.

Shaking her hands in the air and screaming, her mother demands, “Who did this? Is he one of the neighbours?”

Without answering, the girl picks up her cell phone. Within a few minutes, a new Mercedes stops in front of their house.

An older, distinguished looking man wearing a Yarmulke rings the doorbell.  The maid lets him in and he sits down with the parents and says, “Your daughter has informed me of her condition.  I can’t marry because I am married, but I take full responsibility. I will pay all costs and provide for your daughter and the child.  They shall live in a new house of their own on the beach and want for nothing.”

“Additionally, if it is a girl, I will write a new Will and bequeath two retail
furniture stores in New York City, an Office Building and a Deli in downtown Miami, plus a $2 million dollar trust fund.”

“If it is a boy, I will re-write my Will and leave two jewelry stores
in San Francisco, two apartment buildings in downtown Manhattan, an Office Building in downtown Seattle, two grocery stores downtown Portland, A Penthouse Condo in The Keys, and a $25 million dollar trust fund.”

“But if there is a miscarriage, I don’t know what to do.”

There was a moment of silence and then the girls mother placed
her hand gently on the elderly man’s shoulder.
“So, you’ll try again.”     :o)

A Biased Fiji Times Management?

25 Thursday Aug 2011

Posted by in Grey Power Editor

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Dear Grey Power Editor,
A Selina Fotu of Nasinu wrote a letter to the Editor which was published in the Fiji Times today (25/8/11) on the changes proposed by the FNPF Board and Government to our pensions.
What we found surprising was that a letter about the FNPF was actually published by the Fiji Times when pensioners’ letters have not been published at all on any FNPF subject. Moreover, a paid advertisement from fijipensioners Grey Power advertising our website was refused last week by the Fiji Times on the ground that its lawyers had advised not to publish it.
When queried, the Fiji Times pleaded the subjudice rule, that is, that the issue is before the court. Yet Ms Fotu’s letter supporting the proposed changes by the FNPF is published. We wonder- just where is Fiji Times coming from? Self-censorship? As we used to say in the good old days, ‘(Fiji Times), you’ve come a long way, baby!’.
Let us now deal with Ms Fotu’s letter to the Fiji Times editor.

Smile, it costs Nothing

24 Wednesday Aug 2011

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Smile 1
An elderly lady in a nursing home had a habit of lifting the front of her nightgown and saying, “Super sex.”   She walked up to an elderly gentleman who was wearing a hearing aid.  She lifted the front of her nightgown and said, “Super sex.”  The elderly chap thought for a moment and then said, “I think I’ll have the soup.” 

Smile 2
A couple arranged for an elderly aunt to move into a retirement home.  The staff welcomed her on her arrival and sat her on a large comfortable settee in a communal lounge.  After a while the old lady began slowly to lean to one side.   Almost immediately a nurse rushed up an put a large cushion by her side.  Gradually the old lady began to lean to the other side.  Almost immediately a nurse rushed up and propped the old lady up with another large cushion by her other side.  In the evening the young couple visited the old lady and asked her anxiously how she was settling in.  “It’s fine,” she said, “but they won’t let you fart.”

 It’s hard to be nostalgic when you can’t remember anything.

IHC moved for resolution of pensioners’ problems

24 Wednesday Aug 2011

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ISLAMABAD –  The Human Rights Association of Pakistan on Wednesday submitted a writ petition in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) seeking the resolution of the problems faced by retired people in obtaining pension. Human Rights Association President M Kowkab Iqbal argued in the petition that the financial support to the needy was being provided under the Benazir Income Support Programme at their doorsteps, but the people who had served the country for a considerable period of their life had to stand in queues for long hours to receive their pension.
“They are old people and the government should not dishonour them by making them wait in long queues outside banks and other relevant places, which is a violation of Article 9 of the constitution,” she contended. Making the government of Pakistan a respondent, the petitioner asked the court to take notice of the issue. The court accepted the writ petition for a regular hearing to be held on the coming Friday.

GOING GREY – Silver Ribbon Campaign

22 Monday Aug 2011

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fijipensioners Grey Power today launched its Silver Ribbon Campaign in support of the right of FNPF pensioners to receive their full pensions from the FNPF.

In support of our claims to our contracted pensions, our dignity, our self-respect, and our self-reliance, grey-power has initiated a ‘ribbon campaign’ such as those for breast cancer (pink) and HIV/AIDS (red). The majority of pensioners polled have chosen silver-grey. Grey ribbon is not so easy to find, but silver is – and it sparkles and shines just the way we pensioners do!
Silver is appropriate for silver-surfer-grey-power people. All you need is a few metres of silver ribbon and a few safety pins to make yourself, your family and friends this symbol of what grey-power stands for – respect for our many years of contribution to society, our nurturing of the next generation, and our accumulated knowledge and wisdom.
We should wear our ribbons as we go about our business, especially over the coming weekends; on Saturday mornings when we shop, Saturday afternoons when taking part in leisure activities, and Saturday evenings when out for dinner or visiting friends. On Sundays when church-going, playing golf, boating or any of the many other recreational pursuits we silver-surfers enjoy – and hope to be able to enjoy in the future. Whatever we are doing at weekends, we can wear our silver ribbons with pride.
And when we are asked what the ribbon signifies, we can say that during our working years, we looked forward to our two days, or one and a half days, or one day off – and we worked hard, and saved, secure in the knowledge that eventually we would be rewarded with a pension that would enable us to enjoy a permanent weekend of leisure for the rest of our lives. A pension we earned, and to which our employers contributed.
We can explain that our compulsory security contract is now threatened, and that whatever they are told or promised, their pensions too are under threat. That in Fiji, a legally binding contractual agreement is at risk of being negated. And that if one contract can be decreed null and void, then all contracts are in jeopardy.
This is all about ‘going grey’. If you don’t have anything grey to wear to court, go shopping. There are plenty of tops covered in silver ‘bling’ these days – and if you can’t find something you like there is always the fun of an ‘op shop’ treasure hunt. So go-go-go for it silver-surfers – get out there sporting your ribbons in support of the cause! 

From Tuesday, August 23rd 2011 supporters of fijipensioners Grey Power and the David Burness v FNPF and AG case will be wearing silver ribbons and clothing and encouraging others to do the same.

Go Grey Power!