Baby boomers retire with less than two years of savings
BABY boomer women who retire will have just two years’ worth of savings to live on, a report shows.
The story is not much better for men in their late 50s, who would have just five years of survival funds.
The Melbourne Institute said the findings endorsed the federal government’s plan to increase superannuation savings from nine to 12 per cent via a resource tax.
But with Labor struggling to sell its controversial so-called resources super-profits tax plan, study author Roger Wilkins suggested Australians delay their retirement.
“Later retirement both increases savings at retirement and reduces the number of years spent in retirement,” Professor Wilkins said.
The Household, Income and Labour Dynamics report, released today, found single, baby boomer women to be in the most dire situation.
EDITOR- AND THAT IS WHY WE HAVE TO KEEP WORKING AS LONG AS POSSIBLE, DEPENDING ON OUR CIRCUMSTANCES.
A WEST Australian Greens MP has introduced a Bill that will pave the way for legalised euthanasia in the state, angering Christian groups.
Robin Chapple introduced the Voluntary Euthanasia Bill into Parliament today, which would allow any terminally ill West Australian over the age of 21 and of “sound mind” to elect to be euthanised.
Under the Bill, a request for the administration of euthanasia would only apply to a person who has a terminal illness that will cause death within two years and is experiencing considerable pain or debilitation.
Ageing Australia is a good reason for us all to consider Euthanasia- Editor
Courier-Mail- 28 April 2010
“EUTHANASIA campaigner Dr Philip Nitschke has warned of an end-of-life crisis facing Queensland as a “grey tsunami” continues to swell the state’s population.
Dr Nitschke said seniors will resort to desperate measures should the Rudd Government restrict access to reliable voluntary euthanasia information through its proposed internet censorship.
Last Saturday, Dr Nitschke welcomed 120 seniors to a suicide workshop in Toowong that featured a “hacking masterclass” showing seniors how to get around the proposed filter.
“It was the biggest turnout we’ve had so far to a workshop,” said Dr Nitschke, who has spent six months touring workshops across Australia, Europe and US.
“Queensland is an area where we have a huge amount of interest. Where you see large gatherings of retired folk, this becomes a topic of great interest and importance.”
The Government’s Clean Feed internet policy will bar seniors from accessing Dr Nitschke’s Exit International website where they can download his Peaceful Pill Handbook. The document details ways of obtaining Nembutal, a lethal drug illegally imported from Mexico and South-East Asia by Australian euthanasia supporters. ”
I call again on the Federal Govt to hold a referendum on euthanasia where only the 5 million Boomers vote on how we wish to die. Editor- Brian Murphy
Recent articles and media speculation about the lack of jobs for Mature Age on the Gold Coast have really thrown ‘a cat amongst the pidgeons’ for job seekers here.
Some have lost their motivation to keep looking while others have decided to return south to the bigger capital cities.
Although this is their choice to move and remain pessimistic about their chances of finding a job here, the truth is much more optimistic.
Australia’s workforce grows at around 170 000 per year but because of the skills shortages coming, which will happen as 5 million Baby Boomers retire and there are insufficient numbers in the X and Y generations to replace them, the workforce will recede.
The reality is that your business will not survive unless you have a Mature Age Policy that encourages a balance of generations in your workforce.
You may also have to allow the over 50s ‘time out’ to do their caravan trip around Australia and come back refreshed to the job you kept for them.
You may also have to let them work 3 days a week or mentor the young in the workplace to help lift their skills of the X and Y generations as Mature Age have that experience of life.
It is a disservice to you as an employer if we frighten the Mature Age workers and job seekers away because you will need them to stay.
The Gold Coast is the fastest growing area in Australia and our industries- Tourism, Hospitality, Retail, Boats and Construction -will be the leaders in this country’s growth as we become a city of over 1 million people very soon.
Further, Mature Age will also need to find work and a new career and keep working until they are around 70 to have enough money to live at home until their 90s which will be the average age length for most of us.
Most only have $50 000 in superannuation to live on at the moment and a government prediction that age pensions may be a safety net only.
Mature age should stay on the Gold Coast as ‘the times they are a changing’ and employers have to be aware how they will be effected. We need you to stay to assist our growth.
Ageing Australia will require solid planning from us all with around one in every four over 65 and one in every 3 over 50 by 2030.
Brian Murphy- Editor
Superannuation grows as funds recover from global financial crisis losses
After the global financial crisis slashed into the super of Australian retirees and forced those thinking of retiring to reconsider their plans, there now appears to be light at the end of the tunnel.
For the first time in three years people who have been bargaining on retiring with a large nest egg can expect to see positive returns on their super funds.
Median balanced funds – by far the most common type of super fund in Australia – have grown by about 14 per cent on average in the nine months to March. So barring an unexpected second collapse in the global economy, most Australian workers can expect to see their fund post double-digit growth in the 2009-2010 financial year.
Although it might seem to many retirees and would-be retirees that the gloomy days of the GFC have been going on forever, it now appears in hindsight that it was merely a short but very dramatic plunge in the impressive performance of the nation’s favourite method of saving for the future.
But some financial gurus say there will be no return soon to the boom times seen before the GFC.
“The median growth fund is now up 23.8 per cent from the trough towards the end of February 2009. That’s largely on the back of a strong recovery in listed share and property markets,” Chant West principal Warren Chant said.
“Those markets still have a little way to go to reach their pre-crisis levels but the general consensus is that the easy money has now been made and the road ahead is looking more challenging.
People with a typical balanced super fund had done well partly because those funds had to hold a minimum amount of Australian shares.
This is great news for Boomers as many of you have expressed your nagst about the worth of compulsory Super savings. Let’s hope it is a rapid rise.
Brian Murphy-BONZA Editor ( thanks to the Courier Mial)
Baby boomers ’selfish’, says Shadow Infrastructure Minister David Gibson
BABY boomers were “selfish” to expect other generations to pay for their retirement, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Planning David Gibson has told a community forum.
As editor of BONZA I can justifiably say that this is a very unfair statement and in fact it stinks.
David Gibson fails to realise that we have not been exposed to compulsory saving through superannuation because most of us did not get access until the early 90’s. We have since then followed the rules as suggested by government and financial advisers and tried to top it up.
Then just a few years before legitimate retirement age there is economic disaster globally and one third disappears and we loose our way as we try and work out what happened to our money. We are still trying to work out where to invest safely.
We also expected to retire at 55 and live out the remainder of our years in predicted comfort but medical research and a healthier society means that we have added a decade or two to our life spans which no one predicted back in the 70/80’s or at least it was not well known fact.
So the money we would need for a few decades now has to last a couple more. The point is there is no game plan to follow as this ‘ageing Australia’ process is uncharterd waters so let’s not play the blame game.
Yes X, Y AND Z generations will have to pay for us but we have tried and indeed are still trying to put something more aside for our futures so we won’t be a burden on society and for those still working we will continue to save as we work into our 60s and possible 70s.
Most Boomers are very responsible in planning for our future and need to be encouraged not criticised.
We are
Brian Murphy
Editor
Boomers reach retirement age
Article from:
Daryl Passmore
February 27, 2010
A TSUNAMI of social change is about to crash over Queensland as the rush of baby boomers reaching retirement age sees the number of people aged 65-plus more than double over the next two decades.
The impacts on family life, work, housing, transport and other aspects of life will be unprecedented, says Dr Alison Taylor, principal demographer with the Queensland Treasury’s Office of Economic and Statistical Research.
“The complexities and far-ranging implications of the population ageing issue have yet to be fully appreciated,” Dr Taylor said. “The Queensland population is growing rapidly, but the number of older people is the fastest-growing segment. That has widespread implications for all sorts of government services, but also for our community.”
Currently, one in eight people are aged 65 or older. By 2031, it will be one in five and by 2056, one in four.
Even more startling is an expected six-fold increase in the number of people aged 80-plus, from 138,609 today to 844,795 by 2056. Presently only 3 per cent of the population, octogenarians and older will account for one in 20 by 2031, and one in 10 by 2056.
That may produce a reversal of the trend of recent decades as people moved away from parents and other relatives.
The location and design of housing will be a critical factor.
“At the moment, we are building a lot of houses on the fringe of cities,” Dr Taylor said. “It may be cheaper to move the services out to those areas.”
Transport will be a major issue as more drivers in their older years face losing their licences through health issues.
Perhaps the biggest challenge was the unpredictability of baby boomers.
“Baby boomers have never done anything their predecessors have done,” she said.
“A large number of baby boomers will retire to the coast and a large proportion will become grey nomads and some retire to tree-change locations.”
If you SUBSCRIBE to our BONZA LIFE newsletter you will be aware that BONZA supports these comments and encourages individuals and governements to plan for our future. Our thanks to the Brisbane Courier-Mail for this artcile. Editor BONZA
Thanks again for your newsletter and for your dedication, voicing all our interests and concerns that I for one, often discuss and worry about but actually take very little action.
I identfied very strongly with all 11 points that BONZA advocates, in particular nos 9 & 11 jumped out.
re-#9, as well as a Bush project, I think that a program for the Boomers with AusAid abroad could also have potential. We have so much intellectual capital that could be utilised in Australian Govt sponsored programs in developing countries.
Volunteering in these places is often difficult to access and can be quite costly, even with well known NGOs. AusAid offers a huge range of sponsored positions for new graduates to spend a year or two in a developing nation.
I often look at the programs and think that the Boomers could handle these with absolute ease and grace. We have so much to contribute and could achieve so much through our knowledge base and skill sets that new graduates just don’t have. I understand that the young need to cultivate these, I think that in partnership with Boomers they could accelerate their learning.
I guess I should communicate with AusAid!
regards, Annette
Hi Annette
The Govt has a Gloden Gurus group now that allows for volunteering in OZ or there are many local volunteer groups.
Also on the Notice Board on the BONZA home page there is a section on Volunteers Abroad you may be interested in.
Great way of keeping involved and using our skills.
Good luck
Brian-Editor
The Government is starting to focus on Boomer unemployed and the fact we have to keep working. We all need to plan for our individual needs financially but working longer will be good for our mental health( even if only part time) and our wallets.
It will also help the nation out of a bind we will cause as our huge numbers retire without sufficent replacements by delaying the skill shortage.
The best outcome will be to taper your retirement to suit your health and your financial needs.
I,for one,think any incentive to employers is a positive thing.
Work lures for seniors
Article from:
Michael Madigan
THE first programs to keep seniors in the workforce look likely to coincide with the release of the latest intergenerational report on Monday.
It is believed up to $50 million could be set aside to help keep seniors working, with the money possibly going into employment pilot programs.
The Government is also believed to be considering giving employers financial incentives to take on older workers.
Sources said some of the funds might go into research to understand the full extent of the ageing phenomenon.
The long-awaited report is tipped to indicate that the nation has, over the past decade, begun facing down the financial threats of an ageing population.
In 2002, the first intergenerational report revealed Australia faced a grim future because of the cost of caring for the aged, combined with a loss of productivity.
The increase in the tax burden alone was predicted to approach $90 billion by 2042.
But Treasurer Wayne Swan, who is expected to deliver the latest intergenerational report on Monday, has taken heart from a slight increase in the birth rate (from 1.6 babies a woman to 1.7).
… National Seniors said employers needed to be given more incentives to retain and hire older workers.
The Third Intergenerational Report has been released.
Our Pm Kevin Rudd is concerned as we have been for 10 years.
Support BONZA’s efforts to educate the Boomers to stay focused and assist each other through this looming disaster. Lets have a BONZA life.
Thanks to the Courier-Mail for this article.
Nation building plan to offset ageing population -
Kevin Rudd
Article from:
By Renee Viellaris
January 19, 2010
KEVIN Rudd has warned of economic disaster from a looming wave of retirees unless Australia embraces a decade of nation building and workforce reforms.
The Prime Minister yesterday foreshadowed a shake-up to remove workforce barriers and lift workforce participation – themes likely to be central to a planned overhaul of the taxation system.
Revealing findings of the third Intergenerational Report, Mr Rudd said that, by 2050, there would be only 2.7 people of working age for each person aged 65 years and older, compared with 7.5 people in 1970 and five-to-one this year. Within 40 years, the proportion of the population aged 65 years and older would almost double to 23 per cent.
“Unless we make big changes, we will either generate large, unsustainable budget deficits into the second quarter of the century or else we’ll need to reduce government services – including health services – as the needs of an ageing population become greater,” Mr Rudd said.
“At a national level, public finances will be burdened with the increased costs of looking after the needs of older Australians in health, aged care and age pensions. But with a smaller proportion of Australians in the workforce, tax revenues won’t keep pace with those rising costs.”
The Prime Minister warned that working families would feel the impact, with slower economic growth holding back increases in wages.
“Average family incomes will grow at a slower rate than we’ve become accustomed to.”
The Prime Minister said that removing work barriers for women, getting the unemployed into work and introducing paid parental leave would help minimise the impact of the nation’s ageing population, but it would not be enough to reverse an economic crisis.
“Even with all these measures, workforce participation will fall over the next 40 years, from its peak of around 65 per cent now to around 60 per cent by 2050,” he said.
Despite Australia’s resilience to the global financial crisis, Mr Rudd said Australia’s productivity growth could not match the 2 per cent recorded during the Hawke-Keating governments. Last decade, it fell to 1.4 per cent.
“If we let this trend of lower productivity growth continue, Australia will struggle to meet the major challenges facing our economy in decades ahead,” Mr Rudd said.
He said raising productivity growth to 2 per cent would mean every Australian would be $16,000 a year better off.
