Prepared to retire? Think again.

Baby Boomers are set to retire over the next 20 years, but are they really prepared to retire?

It is projected that Australia will house more than 250,000 elderly people over the next ten years with most of the residents aged 95 and above. The nation is slowly developing to prepare for these people to retire by investing in building more nursing homes, hiring more nurses, changing of Australian policies aimed at looking after the older generation, however, how prepared are these people who are about to retire?

With the late introduction of the compulsory super scheme in their working lives, baby boomers have accumulated less money for their retirement lives. Consequently, they will find that they are financially and mentally not prepared to live the retirement life.

Some common problems these people face include:

Ability to pay the bills

With the cost of living and inflation on the rise, retirees are finding it harder to pay their bills. As these retirees no longer have a steady income and haven’t saved enough money in their superannuation accounts, it is becoming increasingly hard for them to look after their everyday needs.

 

Affording to retire

According to a survey conducted by AARP, they have found that baby boomers do not have a realistic view of retirement and as a result, they are not putting enough effort in preparing for their retirement life. As the cost of living increases, baby boomers are finding it financially stressful to retire early and thus many people have been working past the aged of 65 in order to save more money. Some people have also begun downsizing their homes or cutting back on expenses in preparation for retirement.

Social insecurity

As baby boomers think about retiring, they often think “who’s going to lookout for me when I retire?” As their children start leaving their household and living their own lives, baby boomers are often left to care for themselves, uncertain if someone will be there if anything does happen. Occasionally we hear sad stories where an elderly person has passed away for a few days before they are discovered by a neighbour or friend.

Caring for their elderly parents

As the population is ageing, often baby boomers are at the age of retiring and their parents are still around. Financially, these people will need to use their savings to look after themselves and their elderly parents, creating a higher burden on them. Emotionally and financially, how well are baby boomers prepared to retire?

With so many retirement problems, how well are we prepared to retire?

Attend the Future of Aged Care Summit held in Sydney on 30 August – 1 September to discover more changes in the aged care landscape and how to best prepare for the ageing population.

Being brought up in a typical Chinese family in Australia, Vivian takes pride as an ABC (Australia-born Chinese) where she happily embraces both the Chinese and Australian cultures. 

In high school, Vivian wanted to become a fashion designer, however she has developed a passion for running events after working backstage for multiple live shows. Prior to starting at Akolade, Vivian worked 4 years in the wine industry and she misses the wine tasting sessions and openly drinking on the job. As the Marketing Coordinator, Vivian enjoys using her creativity to design unique and fun campaigns for each event. In her spare time, Vivian loves to spend time with her two adorable pets; a cat and a dog.