We may not have discovered the secret to eternal youth just yet, but some are certainly acting as though they have! Whether through choice or necessity, many Australians, including those of retirement age, are living the life of younger people.
Many people don’t listen to or appreciate financial tips from those in different generations, even if they’re family. And actually such an attitude can be a positive thing. After all, lifestyles, career patterns and levels of government financial support are completely different between the generations. For example, first-time home buyers of today are waiting longer than ever to jump into the market, couples are holding off on marriage and children for several more years and over-60-year-olds are moving interstate and even overseas to begin the next chapter of their careers.
It is no secret that children are staying within their parents’ homes for longer. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) says such a change in housing and living arrangements is often related to milestones such as marriage, beginning or finishing education, or starting work.1 The ABS also points out that since the 1970s these milestones have been moving later in an individual’s life.
What is most fascinating about this ‘living younger’ trend is that it now continues through to the very end of a person’s working life, which itself is stretching out to become longer than it ever used to be.
“People in their 50s and 60s are a lot younger in mind and body than they used to be,” says Judy Higgins, founder of over-45s online job board, Older Workers.
“There are now more mature people than ever who are looking for work. In many cases it is simply because they enjoy work and they don’t wish to stop. But in some cases it is because it is a lot more expensive than it used to be to simply live. And in other cases it is because people’s retirement savings were not adequate, or were knocked around by the GFC.”
Interestingly, Higgins also says there are more older women now looking for jobs than ever before. This, she believes, is because they had interrupted careers thanks to the fact that they looked after their children or elderly parents, and their superannuation was not enough to carry them through their retirement years.
No matter the reason for the trend, Higgins says older people are living the lives of those who, in the last generation, were perhaps a decade younger.
“Older people are now travelling a lot more, whether for leisure or work,” she says. “They are more willing to move for work. In a survey we conducted 18 months ago with over 45s, one third said they would happily move for work. A person we know, a 62-year-old draftsman, had a lot of work here in Australia over the last decade but that began to dry up two years ago. He recently moved to New Zealand when he was offered a new job.”
Some older workers are retraining into areas that are almost guaranteed to boast a wealth of jobs over the coming decades, such as careers in the aged care field. Higgins says anybody with a Certificate IV in Aged Care and a specialisation in a useful field, such as gardening, nursing, cooking etc., will be welcomed into jobs in the aged care field, especially as our population continues to age and becomes top heavy.
Other older workers are looking to return to the workforce after caring for elderly parents or unwell partners.
“People are retiring later for a number of reasons,” Higgins says, and it was a fact long before the recent Budget announcement of the increase in pension age to 70. “The truth is that a lot of people simply enjoy working and the sense of purpose that comes with it. The expectation used to be that you would retire at a specific age. But these days that expectation is no longer there. In fact, it is the opposite. Working longer is a responsible and impressive thing to do.”
So rather than seeking a quiet life by the sea, many of those of retirement age are instead moving to where work can be found. Such behaviour was virtually unheard of a decade ago, but over the last decade much has changed.
Average first home buyers in Australia, for instance,2 are now 31 years old. This is six years older than they were in the 1970s. And on average a whopping 45% of home owners’ after-tax incomes go towards servicing their mortgages.
The median age of first marriage for males is also 31 years, according to the ABS.3 For females it is 29.4 Those ages for both males and females have risen by three years in the last decade. In the early 1970s the median age for first marriage was 23.4 (men) and 21.1 (women). Is it any wonder that couples are having children later, buying houses later and retiring later?
The expectation used to be that you would retire at a specific age. But these days that expectation is no longer there. In fact, it is the opposite.
“People want more now,” Higgins says. “They want more in their life. They want to travel. They want the right house, not just any house. They want to take a year off, or a few years off, before they begin their careers. This continues onwards through to retirement age. We see several people in their 70s for whom the word ‘retirement’ is simply not in their vocabulary.”
Of course, these changing life patterns, the younger behaviour by older age groups, also reflects the fact that Australians are now living longer than ever. In 1950 life expectancy at birth was 66.5 for males and 71.5 for females. By 1980 this had risen to 71 for males and 78.1 for females.4 In 2013, the ABS says, a boy could expect to live to 79.9 and a girl to 84.3.5 That’s around 13 years added on to an average life.
So why is all of this important? Firstly, it demonstrates the importance of exceptional and up-to-date financial planning. What may not have been as important for one’s parents or grandparents, and therefore was not something commonly discussed around the house or taught to children, is now a necessity. Some of the older people still working are doing so by choice, but for others it is a financial imperative whether they like it or not. Choice, in such a situation, is a wonderful thing.
On a more positive note, living the life of a younger person (referred to in the media recently as ‘down ageing’) offers entirely new opportunities in terms of lifestyle and the urgency with which life can sometimes be lived. If the labour market is tight then more time can be spent at university making yourself more employable and more valuable. There is no longer any great need to have children in one’s 20s or even 30s. And, of course, as long as you’re financially secure, you can work as long or as little as you like.
We are, indeed, in a brave new world, which boasts greater health and longer lives. Match that up with financial security and you have a recipe for true happiness.
1 ‘Home and away: The living arrangements of young people’, Australian Bureau of Statistics, June 2009.
2 ‘Genworth International Mortgage Trends Report’, June 2011.
3 ‘Marriages and divorces’, Australian Bureau of Statistics, November 2013.
4 ‘International health – how Australia compares’, Australian Institute of Health & Welfare, 1996.
5 ‘Australians Living Longer’, Australian Bureau of Statistics, November 2013.
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