Our new long lives
When the aged pension was introduced in New South Wales in June 1900 the age at which men could access it was 65, and for women it was 60. The average life expectancy for males in 1900 was 51.8 years, and females 54.8 years. This meant there was a limited number of people who qualified for the aged pension.
Compare that to 2025. The aged pension is available for men and women at 67 years, and yet life expectancy for males is 81.2 and females is 85.1 years. The compulsory superannuation legislation brought in by the Keating Government in 1992 has made a huge difference to the financial well-being of Australians and the Australian economy. However, superannuation funds have not adapted with the times. Life expectancy for males in 1992 was 74.5 years and for women 80.4 years.
‘Retirement’ needs to be much more flexible
In our aging society, with a low birth rate, the cohort of people over 65 is increasing rapidly. It was 4.2million people or 16% of the population (June 30, 2020). By 2026, this will increase to more than 22%. NB. This figure was 8.3% at the start of the 1970s.
In Australia, a large percentage of older adults (65+) report good, very good or excellent health: 74% in 2022 (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare).
Superannuation funds have not kept up with the new long life most people are living as we enter the second quarter of the 21st Century. Most promote the concept of retirement as reward for hard work – focusing on leisure, travel, and financial security. And yet 25% of Australians aged 65+ who are still working plan to continue to work part-time instead of fully retiring. Some for financial reasons, but mostly for social connection and personal fulfilment. This concept of working part-time long into retirement years is seen as even more desirable (40%) in younger Australians (18 – 34). (ASFA survey 2023).
Ageism is a problem in the workplace. HR professionals often resist hiring people after their late 40’s or early 50’s because they are viewed as ‘older workers’. This is probably due to the perception they won’t be as productive or may struggle to learn new concepts and be able to adopt AI or other technologies. Mostly these perceptions are untested and vary as much for employees over 50 as they do for younger employees.People over 67 who have strong and active minds and healthy bodies have a wealth of experience and skills to offer to the next generations.
Humans need a sense of purpose throughout their whole life
Purpose assists with motivation to be healthy, engaged, socially active. Retirement to a life with no purpose or an undefined purpose can be a huge negative for overall health and well-being, and longevity.
Life has many stages these days. For the latter half of the 20th Century, it was mostly 3 stages – education (0-21), work (21-65), retirement (65+). Today we are all interested in more flexible lives – younger people are prolonging their adolescence and education; work is many jobs and several careers rather than one job in one career. We have a multi-staged life. And, in my view, retirement needs to be a much more flexible concept.
We need a national discussion to enable all the stakeholders find a range of new flexible ways of approaching this subject. Business, Government, Super Funds, and the increasing numbers of healthy older Australians need to shake things up to find a better way for all concerned.
Work is an integral part of living a life of purpose and fulfilment.
To stop working on a set date from a busy and responsible work role is not appealing to people who love their work and the sense of purpose it provides in their lives. Stopping can be dangerous to a person’s health and wellbeing.
What Jane Fonda calls Life’s Third Act (60 – 90 years), is a wonderful opportunity to transition to a new and larger life where work is less critical for financial survival. That transition period may involve working in a less operational role, using your experience to mentor those with less experience into their roles. This may be an inhouse role in larger companies or stepping out to become a consultant who mentors those in key positions in a range of companies. With the right amount of encouragement, direction, and training, there is a huge opportunity for our society waiting to be explored.
Arthur Brooks, in From Strength to Strength (2022) shows how high achievers often find greater happiness and deeper purpose if they move to mentoring, teaching and advisory roles rather than operational roles after 50. Instead of growing steadily wearier in operational roles, they can find a resurgence of energy and purpose making this kind of shift, and it can be a role that can be done part-time well into their 70’s and even 80’s, if they have mental acuity.
Life-long learning needs to become a personal and national core value
In his book and Netflix series, The Blue Zones, Dan Buettner, looks at 5 areas of the world that have created an environment where a higher percentage of people live to become centenarians (100+) living longer and healthier lives. His original book came out in 2004. His recently updated version was published in 2023. In this update he has added the first city environment in the world that has become conducive to living longer and healthier lives. That city? Singapore. A remarkable story of a poverty-stricken island cut off by Malaya and gaining independence in the early 1960s to become an economic powerhouse today, and a place where older people are encouraged to participate and thrive into their 90s. Life-long learning is a high value in Singapore. As it usually is for any high achiever who wants to be a contributor to those around them.
Your transition to a life bigger than just working.
I have assisted several business owners to create a plan for how they will exit their busy work life and move into a purpose-filled life bigger than just working in their business. The time to start thinking about this is not when it is forced upon you. To do it well, it is a 3-to-5-year process.
If you would like to have a conversation about how you might navigate your journey, please reach out. Book a time for a conversation here. Or respond to this newsletter by return email.
John Drury Business Mentor – mentoring to develop the leader within you, and to raise up and empower the leaders around you. If you are interested in learning to become a better leader within your business, please reach out for a free conversation (Book here).
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