Why is it that accommodation businesses feel the need to slug patrons for more money? Because they are greedy, ungrateful, and because they can.

I will never understand the need to take advantage of circumstance and all it brings.

To be ripping off the hand that feeds you shows you do not value the custom, but see it as a means to hold customers to ransom and take more of their cash. Where is your integrity?

It seems Warrnambool businesses have learnt nothing from COVID; their entitlement is nauseating.

We all heard the 'boo hoo, woe is me, my business is suffering'. Now things have improved, the customers are paying mightily and wrongly.

Surcharges on public holidays are rife. So I say, you know who's going through a lot right now? EVERYBODY. Be kind.

Vicki Walter, Warrnambool

When celebrating 30 years of the Superannuation Guarantee which started in 1992, its architect Paul Keating described it well: "It was an account with your name on it. The capital is yours and it doesn't belong to the government".

However, research by National Seniors Australia and Challenger shows satisfaction in later life is not primarily driven by the amount of money you have. Home-ownership beats super and savings for feeling satisfied with financial security in retirement.

Our 2022 survey of 2888 Australian retirees showed financial security satisfaction increased with age, as did the proportion of each age group who owned their own home.

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The rates for security and home-ownership mirrored each other. Satisfaction rose from 81 per cent for people in their 60s to 91 per cent for the over-80s, while home-ownership rose from 71 to 80 per cent across these groups.

Understandably, savings and investments declined with age, so seem less crucial for current retirees' feelings of financial security.

With rising inflation, rental market pressures and share market volatility, retirees who are renting or paying off a mortgage are justified in feeling nervous about their financial security.

Options are limited to accumulate income in retirement. Working beyond retirement age and closely managing investments can help, but those options are not available to all.

Many Australians are financially vulnerable in retirement, especially those dependent solely on the Age Pension. Of those we surveyed who received the full Age Pension, only 57 per cent owned their homes outright, while 29 per cent were renting, and many reported struggling to cover rent, bills and food costs.

That's why National Seniors advocates for fair pension rates and adequate housing assistance policies, while also campaigning for pensioners and other Centrelink payment recipients to be allowed to work and keep more of their government payment.

In addition to helping fix workforce shortages, there's dignity in work even if it's something you must do.

Ironically, work is becoming more critical as a pillar of retirement income in these difficult times.

Recent increases in pension rates and a higher Work Bonus limit until December are welcome but clearly more is needed to help people fight off poverty and have more financial stability in retirement.

Home-ownership, superannuation and savings are important financial pillars for all Australians. Incoming retirees of all ages and incomes need easy access to independent financial advice that enables them to optimise their assets in housing, super and secure savings.

The pillars of the retirement income system have proven to be solid for those with sufficient income, so we need to find new ways to ensure they work for older people on struggle street as well.

Professor John McCallum, CEO National Seniors Australia and and Mr Aaron Minney, Challenger

The Australian public is increasingly alert to the environmental threats that result from burning fossil fuels.

Many people I know, however, are unaware of the negative health impacts.

Burning coal releases toxic airborne pollutants including particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, mercury, lead and arsenic. In Australia, this air pollution is responsible for about 14,000 incidences of asthma attacks and 800 premature deaths per year.

Six of the 10 most polluted postcodes in Australia contain a coal-fired power station or a coal mine. Shocking for the health of these communities.

Further, according to the National Asthma Council, using gas, especially for cooking, is attributable to 12 per cent of all childhood asthma cases. The resultant air pollutants are deemed equivalent to having a smoker in the home.

To protect the health and well-being of our children and wider population, we must cease burning fossil fuels and instead use clean, safe, renewable energy.

Amy Hiller, Kew

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