5 ms·

though "what you actually get" in the long run includes superannuation in Australia, but people do not count it as a component of their gross income.

• yitchelle 8y ago
  Not really, it is kinda "unseen" as its not part of the money that goes into you pocket after taxes. You only get into your pocket when retired.
  • sjwright 8y ago
    It's most definitely your money. You earned it. The money was transferred from your employer's bank account to an account in your name. The only difference is you can't spend it today. ( It was a clever mind hack by the Keating Labor government to have super not be a subset of your base salary, but rather as an on-top-of entitlement for employees—or from the employer's perspective, an additional wages cost just like payroll tax. Had it gone the other way, people would be more sensitive to their earned money being locked away. )
    • Schwolop 8y ago
      Re: the mind hack - yes, I agree. However, in light of recent discussions about raising the 9.5% SGL I went and looked at my latest contract which quite clearly says should that 9.5% go up, my total compensation will not change, so my base compensation will thus fall to ... compensate. Even though that doesn't financially penalise me, it still feels a bit mean. From the company's point of view though, I'm sure they'd view it as far more mean if the government suddenly told them they're obliged to pay everyone more.
      • sjwright 8y ago
        The mind hack aspect was important for the transition from the pensions and ad-hoc systems that came before them. Now that superannuation has near-universal support, any employers (like yours) which engineer an un-hack to the system aren't going to tear down the social license for super.
• C1sc0cat 8y ago
  Deferred pay is the normal way to look at it.