When we discuss the goalposts for retirement, none of us want to think about working longer than we have to, and all of us want to get excited about seemingly carefree days in the latter third of our lives.
And yet, when we talk about life expectancy for over-40s and even over-60s today, many people would think we’re crazy wanting to give up work completely at 60 or 65 if we’re likely to live into our 90s and beyond.
We’ve clearly got to embrace a new life stage before retirement.Credit: istock
So let’s reset our thinking about work, money and the choices we will have the power to make as we approach “retirement age”. I suggest building two goalposts for life, instead of the single one we currently call retirement.
We’re the reset generations. Anyone over 40 or 50 today has had almost 20 years added to their life expectancy in their lifetime.
In 1970, just 54 years ago, life expectancy was 70.8 years at birth in Australia.In 2024, for someone who is now 65, the median life expectancy is 85 for men and 88 for women – and in financial planning circles they say couples should plan for one of them to live beyond 95.
The even better news is that, having added nearly 20 years to our lives, our percentage of years spent in good health has stayed relatively the same.
Effectively, we’ve added those 20 years to our highest quality midlife years, not to the end of our lives. That means they can be productive and exciting years, for which we need to think about life and money a little differently.
We clearly have to embrace a new life stage before retirement, if retirement means to step back from work. I call it our prime time. Prime timers have the opportunity to balance being a productive and meaningful member of the workforce, with achieving more of their personal and lifestyle goals.
How to plan for retirement if you want to keep on working
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09.02.2024
When we discuss the goalposts for retirement, none of us want to think about working longer than we have to, and all of us want to get excited about seemingly carefree days in the latter third of our lives.
And yet, when we talk about life expectancy for over-40s and even over-60s today, many people would think we’re crazy wanting to give up work completely at 60 or 65 if we’re likely to live into our 90s and beyond.
We’ve clearly got to embrace........
© The Sydney Morning Herald
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