Posts Tagged “mature age”

 

 

Ageing workforce…Many couples are unable to retire and will have to keep working service industry jobs. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

TWO-THIRDS of Australians expect to keep working well beyond the official retirement age, but many are worried that their ageing bodies won’t let them.

A new study has found that 40 per cent of people hope to work “as long as possible” and another 27 per cent say they will be forced to work into their old age because they will need the money.

However, more than one-quarter believe they will struggle to do their jobs by age 70, says the Galaxy report commissioned by workforce management solutions company Kronos.

Ageing workforce…A new study has revealed that 27 per cent of people say they will be forced to work into their old age because they will need the money. Picture: Supplied. Source: Supplied

And an increasing generation gap in the workplace threatens to drive them out, with tensions stemming from younger workers being unwilling to accept advice from their older colleagues.

“Employers who ignore changes in workplace demographics may find themselves confronting increased office disharmony,” the CEO of Kronos Australia and New Zealand, Peter Harte, said.

He said the trend of working past age 65 would continue to grow because many people wanted to be more active as they aged and others “have no choice but to work for as long as possible”.

Australia’s pension age of 65 is set to rise incrementally to 67 by 2023, then 70 by 2035. The upward shifts start in 2017, moving to 65.5 years.

New trend…Peter Harte, CEO of Kronos Australia and New Zealand said some people retire later to keep active while others have no choice. Picture: Supplied. Source: Supplied

Social research group McCrindle says Australia has 3.45 million people aged over 65, and this is forecast to grow to 4.76 million in 10 years and 7.75 million in 30 years.

McCrindle director of research Claire Madden said people were tempted to stay working for longer by a desire to remain active, scars from the global financial crisis, cost of living pressures, increased lifestyle expectations and even new expense categories such as smartphones and tablet computers.

“The concept of retirement is being redefined by today’s generation of Baby Boomers,” she said.

“They are wanting to remain active contributors and find work is a fulfilling way of doing it.”

Source:  News Corp Australia Network

 

16 November 2014

Australia is facing a brain drain as a massive wave of skills and experience exit the workforce with
retiring baby boomers, while youth unemployment is 4.5 times higher than the rest of the working
age population, according to the latest AMP.NATSEM Income and Wealth report.

AMP.NATSEM: We can work it out – Australia’s Changing Workforce looks at how Australia’s
workforce has changed over time, unemployment across Australia and compared to other countries,
incomes and gender structure of the workforce.
With the baby boomer generation moving into retirement the proportion of older people, those aged
65 and over, will rise to nearly a quarter of the population, from 13.5% to 22.7% in 2050, taking
valuable skills, knowledge and experience from the workforce.
At the same time, the youth unemployment rate, those aged 15 to 19 looking for full time work, is
4.5 times more than it is for those aged 20 and over, at 27.2% compared to 6.2%.
AMP Chief Customer Officer Paul Sainsbury said the AMP.NATSEM report showed the challenges
of Australia’s workforce was two-fold.
“People over 65 are projected to make up nearly a quarter of the population in the future.
“As older people leave the workforce they will take with them skills and experience, while many
young people are struggling to find work. As a consequence, it might mean that younger people are
not getting the experience they need to do these jobs in the future.
“The report highlights the challenges of an ageing population.
“With lower birth rates and much longer life expectancy, it is critically important for people to
adequately plan for their future so they not only enjoy a comfortable retirement, but also Australia
remains prosperous as the workforce composition changes,” Mr Sainsbury said.
The report also finds the representation of women in the workforce has shifted significantly. These
days women are the majority in four out of eight occupation groups measured by the Australian
Census, compared to only two in 1991 and one in 1911.
Key findings: Australia facing a brain drain as baby boomers retire… 2
Challenges of an ageing population
The baby boomer generation is moving into retirement, with the proportion of older people, those
aged 65 and over, expected to rise to nearly a quarter of the population by 2050, jumping from
13.5% in 2010 to 22.7% in 2050. This will see a significant depth of skills, knowledge and
experience move out of the workforce.
Australia’s fertility rate below replacement level
Australia’s fertility rate is below replacement level, meaning the proportion of working age people is
forecast to drop to 60% by 2050, down from 67.4% in 2010.
Youth unemployment
The youth unemployment rate, those aged 15 to 19 who are looking for full time work, is 4.5 times
more than it is for those aged 20 and over. More than 75% of young people work part time, more
than double those aged 20 and over.
International employment comparisons
Australia is in the top 10, at 6%, when it comes to low unemployment. This is significantly lower than
many other countries, particularly parts of southern Europe where unemployment rates above 10%
are common, including Spain (24.5%) and Greece (27.3%), meaning a quarter of their workforce is
unemployed.
Increasing female participation in part time work
Part time employment is increasingly important with around 30.7% employed part time. The large
increase in female participation is a key driver of part time employment with female participation
increasing from 52% to 61% between 1991 and 2011.
Significant structural change
Australian occupations have changed significantly over the past 100 years. Primary producers, such
as farmers, accounted for the highest proportion of the workforce in 1911 at 30%, while today they
make up just 1.3% of the workforce. By contrast, in 1911 only 7% of workers were classed as
professionals, whereas today they make up nearly a quarter of the workforce (22%).
Incomes across industry
Workers in mining have the highest salaries, with a median income of $2134 per week. This
compares to workers in agriculture, forestry and fishing who earn $761 per week, and reflects the
change in demand for occupations such as farming and fishing.
Incomes by occupation
Looking at incomes by occupation, professionals top the list with a median income of $1546 per
week, with labourers having the lowest weekly median income at $892 per week.
State by state
Across Australia, Tasmania has the highest unemployment rate at 7.1%, compared to the national
average of 6%. NSW has the highest income earners in the country, in the Sydney suburbs of
Darling Point, Edgecliff and Point Piper, while Western Australia is home to the second highest
income earners, in the Perth suburbs Cottesloe and Peppermint Grove.
Professor Robert Tanton, of NATSEM, said: “The report shows significant change over the years
resulting in a very uncertain workforce.
“Young people are facing difficulties gaining employment due to changes in technology, tougher
economic conditions and increasing requirements for qualifications, while older people are retiring
and taking skills, experience and knowledge with them,” Mr Tanton said. Australia facing a brain drain as baby boomers retire… 3
Since 2002, AMP and NATSEM have produced a series of reports that open windows on Australian
society, the way we live and work – and our financial and personal aspirations.
AMP publishes these reports to help the community make informed financial and lifestyle decisions
and to contribute to important social and economic policy debate.
Download a full copy of the report at: www.amp.com.au/media

PLANNING an early retirement?

You may want to think again if new research released today holds true.

A Galaxy Research study reveals about 27% of Rockhampton’s 16,207 residents aged over 65 can expect to be working into their 70s.

The study found that one quarter of us wanted to retire as early as possible, but 27% would be forced to work longer due to dwindling finances.

And 42% of the 1800 people surveyed said it would be hard to cope doing their jobs at 70.

Managing director of Capricorn Investment Partners David French believes people should be working for as long as they can and start planning their finances in their 40s.

“For the good of society people need to keep being productive until they’re not able to,” he said.

“It’s obviously going to be pretty difficult for some people who have manual jobs and it’s natural for people of that age not to maintain the same amount of strength but people need to keep in mind that we are living a lot longer these days; the average age of death for baby boombers is 92 now.

“Although it might be nice to retire when you want, it would be better to work for as long as you can and earn money to support yourself for when you physically can’t work any longer because the government pension accessibility age will keep progressing to 70.”

Mr French also believes people should be starting to think about their future no matter what age they are.

“People in their late 20s are starting to buy their own houses which is great,” he said. “But people in their 30s and 40s need to get really serious about saving and their superannuation because the government isn’t going to be standing behind you as much as they did before.”

WORK, WORK, WORK

The Rockhampton region has about 16,207 people aged over 65.

25% of older people want to retire as early as possible.

27% will be forced to work into their 70s due to money problems.

42% say it will hard to cope doing their job at 70.

40% of people want to keep working because it’s good for their health.

Source: Galaxy Research; University of Adelaide Public Health Information Development Unit

Source:  News Mail Bundaberg

You don’t always have to choose between working and living your dream nomadic life. It is possible to do both.
Image: Getty

Every winter, Trish Harper is based in Rubyvale, a small town in outback Queensland where the brolgas dance below bright sunsets, and finding sapphires is the dream of many.

Trish and her husband, Robb, spent their working lives behind a desk – her doing administrative work at a high school, him working in a newspaper pre-press department – and focus their retirement on something vastly different. While in Rubyvale, Robb mines on their land lease while Trish works as a local tour guide. Or, as Trish puts it: “I buy him jack hammers and he finds me sapphires – that’s fair!”

Working while they’re on the road wasn’t the initial plan but Trish says you have to just go along with things sometimes. “Another lady who works there (at Miner’s Heritage mine tours) was going on a holiday and they were looking for someone to fill in for her, so I did it… and I’m still there,” she says, adding that she wouldn’t have it any other way. “I do underground tours and I show people how to fossick for sapphires; it’s great when someone finds a sapphire and they get so excited. I just love it.”

But the big attraction to her job is the people she meets. “I meet lots of people who want to enjoy and see the same things that I really enjoy,” Trish says. “I really like sharing it with them and they just want to know more about the place. Everybody who goes there is fascinated by it.”

When they’re not in the Queensland gem fields, Trish and Robb could be anywhere in Australia: at their home in Cairns, travelling around Tasmania in their caravan, touring the Kimberley, or finding small towns that surprise them – just as Rubyvale, the only place they work these days, did. “You have to give those quiet little places a chance,” Trish says. “There’s something there and you’ve got to stop and find out what it is.”

The flexibility of this nomadic lifestyle is perfect for the couple right now and Trish says that mindset is the key to retirement. “I don’t think you can have a dream that doesn’t change when you retire. You hope for a lot of things and if you’re lucky enough to live long enough and stay healthy enough, your dream evolves.”

And ultimately, it’s about having all choices available to them. Trish works the hours she wants at Miner’s Heritage and the rest of the year they just go where they feel inclined to be. “On the back of our caravan we say every day is ‘Chooseday’,” laughs Trish. “We get up and choose what we’re going to do that day, where we’re going to go, how long we’re going to stay there, and when it doesn’t feel right we pack up and go.”

It’s the ultimate post-retirement nomadic life, with a touch of an encore career about it, and another way to make retirement a reality in your own way.

 

Source:  Living Well Navigator

Whatever your age, to stay on top of things in a fast-changing world, you have to learn new skills. For an increasing number of individuals, figuring out how to become an entrepreneur later in life is one of them.

More and more mature employees are realizing that to move on from where they are, they need to cast off the burden of employment and reinvent themselves as “silver entrepreneurs” with businesses of their own.

Much of the recent rise in self-employment in the United Kingdom from 2008 to 2013 (some 84 percent) can be attributed to those 50 and older, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation reported in 2009 that in the decade prior, entrepreneurial activity in the United States “the highest rate of entrepreneurial activity belongs to the 55-64 age group.”

Entrepreneurship is not just a young person’s game. And far from being a sign of midlife crisis, leaving behind the apparent safety of employment when you’re 50 makes perfect sense.

The following eight points are worth considering and might change your outlook as you ponder a possible move from older employee to “silverpreneur.”

Related: Why Being 50 (or Older) Is Just Right for Entrepreneurship

1. Having a job no longer offers security.

Being in a job doesn’t make you secure. That’s the hard truth that many have had to confront in the years since the recent financial crisis. And just because the economy is recovering well, doesn’t mean the same crisis could not happen happen.

Recent world events show how quickly things can change, often with unknown consequences. Which is why more and more companies are looking to build flexibility into their business by taking on fewer permanent staff and looking to ensure they can shed jobs easily should the worst happen.

2. Your current job is disappearing.

Even if you are not being pushed out of your job right now, you won’t find it as easy to find a similar post, at a similar level, as you once might have. That’s because the role you currently perform is increasingly being replaced by new and different roles, or will be given to younger newcomers willing to work hard for less.

3. Technology innovations are arriving faster.

There was a time when robots were thought of as science fiction. Today, robots (or at least sophisticated software programs) are performing tasks that used to be done by highly trained and skilled professionals.

Related: How Old Is Too Old to Start a Business? The Answer May Surprise You. (Infographic)

4. Knowledge and experience are an advantage.

Soon, as many as four generations will be working together, meaning that your career ladder could be cut off prematurely by younger techno-savvy employees who might even become your boss.

But your wealth of experience need not go to waste if you choose to start up your own business. Other Kauffman Foundation research foundthat many founders of successful companies didn’t set them up until they 40 or older. So see your age and the experience you have accumulated — from wherever it comes — as an advantage.

5. Setting up a business is easier.

It’s easier than ever these days to set up a business, given the low cost of technology. You no longer have to set up a bricks-and-mortar business with expensive premises or lots of stock to pay for. You can now succeed with an online business with just a good idea and a small budget to spend on IT equipment and software.

Lower startup costs mean less risk, so it should be easier to convince others that becoming a silverpreneur isn’t madness. And the best time to get going is while you still have a job.

6. Raising capital is possible.

If you need funding, you may well have some financial reserves to draw on or be in a strong position to borrow, as you have a financial track record.

And with several crowd-funding platforms to chose from, you can raise money even more quickly and easily. You just need a compelling pitch for others to believe in your idea and help you succeed.

7. A comfortable retirement is often just a dream.

Retirement is now an outdated concept that you need to revise. It’s not just a case that the retirement age is continuing to creep up or that many are need to keep working to maintain a lifestyle. The fact is, you should be looking to make a contribution in some form throughout your life so as to make you feel younger for longer.

It just doesn’t make sense to throw away all your knowledge and experience just because of a particular date on the calendar. With life spans increasing, you could easily change your career when you’re 50 or 60 or embark on an exciting entrepreneurial venture for the next 20 to 30 years.

So why be stuck in a dull retirement when you could take control of your life and do something interesting, rewarding and fulfilling while contributing to society at the same time?

8. Life is about continuous learning.

One way to improve quality of life as people live longer by keeping thier brains active through continuous learning. The day you stop learning is the day you start becoming old, independently of your biological age.

There will be those who tell you that entrepreneurs are born and not made. When it comes to serial superstars like Richard Branson, that may be true, but there are more than enough examples of mature professionals who successfully set out on their own in later years. Look at Ray Kroc who set up McDonald’s at age 52.

So, if you want to be a silverpreneur, what should you do?

Simply change your mindset. You’re probably thinking you’re too set in your ways and that you can’t possibly do something so radical. I’m here to tell you that you can — if you want. Life is shaped by the decisions you make.

So stop labeling yourself according to your age or what you’ve done for a career to date. By seeing yourself as a manager, accountant or marketer, you’re subconsciously telling yourself that’s what you are and this stops your reinvention.

If you need business training or guidance (and you almost certainly will if you’ve only ever been an employee), find the right courses and programs that will give you the needed skills. Better still, find a mentor, someone with business experience to provide feedback about what you’re doing or intending to do. You’ll learn faster and avoid costly mistakes.

And with economies around the world still so uncertain becoming a “silverpreneur” is the best retirement plan because only then will you be in control of your life and your future.

Source:  Entrepreneur

 

Mark Knight cartoon.

Mark Knight cartoon.

IF you want to break up a party start talking about climate change. Pretty soon the gathering will be split either side of the cheese cubes and pickled onions.

I won’t delve into that debate now, except to say we’ve taken our eyes of the real climate-change ball, which is less greenhouse gases and more our ageing population.

While this demographic move won’t necessarily change the temperature, it’s certainly changing the environment and atmosphere in which we live.

Recently I had the pleasure of hosting an active ageing forum and was overcome by the frustration expressed by many attending.

These were stakeholders who recognise that not enough is being done to turn what is culturally still seen by many as handicap into what is actually an exciting opportunity.

It breaks my heart when I talk to people who feel trapped in a job they hate because they know no one’s likely to choose a 50+ worker over someone younger should they decide to leave.

I hate it when I hear from those who are made to feel useless or an imposition to be worked around — instead of being valued as someone who brings real life experience to the table.

While these biases are being broken down in some areas, they are alive and kicking in so many others.

The thing that’s most frustrating is that many initiatives which would encourage active, integrated ageing are so damn simple a child would recognise the benefits. There are real business cases for looking after the older work force, but still not enough is done.

Not sure? Well here are some facts from Canadian Colin Milner, the head of the International Council on Active Aging and Professor Graeme Hugo who specialises in Australian population and migration research at Adelaide University.

One out of every two adults in the US will be 50+ by 2017 and they’re worth seven trillion dollars in annual economic activity — yes, it’s a bigger scale but you can’t deny their financial importance.

One out of three people who are 65 will fall every year and by the age of 80 nearly half of us won’t be able to lift four-and-a-half kilos.

Whereas the last generation predominantly retired with a partner, one in four baby boomers will do it alone. And while they’re supposed to be healthier than ever, this is also the first generation to have led sedentary lives.

There’s a higher incidence of chronic diseases, diabetes, asthma, sleep apnoea and arthritis. And while people may be living on average an extra nine years, the very real question is: Are we just ‘‘rescuing them from death’’ instead of enabling them to live out their lives in a healthy manner?

The fact our superannuation is based on the last year of earning, not the average of someone’s lifetime, discourages people from transitioning their employment status so we’re losing great chunks of intellectual property instead of allowing it to be transferred.

And finally a case study I thought I’d share to show how it can be done courtesy of car giant BMW.

They’ve recognised the value and experience of their older workers so in their manufacturing plants they replaced concrete floors with wooden sprung ones, developed and supplied specialised shoes and increased the size of their data screens.

How simple is that?

Oh yeah, and Australia is only 13th best when considering the treatment of its older generations.

The secret to all of this is to correct long held prejudices about ageing workers and encouraging healthy ageing over our entire life course.

We can’t just keep focusing on the kids as our ‘future’ because this issue is the present and is only going to get bigger.

We must see older adults as untapped potential that can build a silver economy for this country and provide a stable business climate, even if our weather one might by muddled.

Date:  November 10, 2014

Reporter at The Canberra Times

Age Discrimination Commissioner Susan Ryan.

Age Discrimination Commissioner Susan Ryan. Photo: Andrew Meares

Lifting the pension age to 70 will make sense in the future, but first there must be a massive overhaul to keep people in the workplace, Age Discrimination Commissioner Susan Ryan says.

Ms Ryan said the federal government’s plan to raise the pension age to 70 by 2035 came as a “bombshell” to many older workers but was a signal things had to change now.

“We’ve got people in their 50s who are considered too old to be employed,” she said.

“Let’s address that problem now and then by the time we get to 2035… if you fixed up the workplace… you’d find most people would want to keep working until they’re 70.

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Ms Ryan will deliver the keynote speech on Tuesday at the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia annual symposium tackling the “extremely timely” topic of population ageing and Australia’s future.

“The whole issue of the impact on the economy of the ageing population needs more attention,” she said.

“I’m trying to focus decision makers on this huge looming issue of a rapidly growing older age group, but not an age group that needs to be seen just as a burden… mostly people retain health and energy until they’re 70 and… a willingness to work in the appropriate way.”

Ms Ryan said in coming weeks the commission would begin surveying employees and employers across the country to assess for the first time the prevalence of age discrimination in the workplace.

“We are hoping to get from that… a national picture of how much age discrimination there is, what the factors are that cause people to leave the workplace too early,” she said.

“I’m keen to see a better picture of how far having a higher education assists you in your working life… we want to see if it assists people stay in the workplace for as long as they want to.”

She said governments need to think ahead and plan for industry changes that left older workers in their 50s and 60s highly-skilled but unemployed and unable to find a new job because of age prejudice.

Her solution would see older workers undergo a “career check-up” giving them advice about finding a new skills base if needed.

Although blue-collar and trades workers are often the hardest hit, Ms Ryan said they weren’t the only ones affected by the widespread problem.

“You certainly see it in white-collar jobs, particularly in the middle level… in public and private sectors,” she said.

“Everyone should have the opportunity to recheck where they are going at about 50.

“If the sector they’re in is losing jobs they can see… where the other jobs are, what training they need and how they can get it.”

She said the “coordinated national approach” would need input from state governments, business leaders and training institutions, but should be led by the federal government because of the massive impact on the national economy.

Rather than “massive new funding” it would require “better investment in capable middle-aged workers”.

Modelling by Deloitte Access Economics for the Human Rights Commission shows that a 3 per cent increase in workforce participation for workers over 55 – beyond an already expected 2.7 per cent by 2024-25 – would contribute an extra $33 billion to Australia’s GDP.

Ms Ryan said it showed the economy could be massively strengthened without huge changes.

“The people are there, they want to work, they’re able to work… it’s a matter of having an approach and a system that brings the skilled highly-motivated mid-life workers into a position where they are able to take up the jobs that are available,” she said.

Read more: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/age-discrimination-commissioner-susan-ryan-says-workplaces-need-an-overhaul-to-stop-age-prejudice-20141110-11jn85.html#ixzz3IiMfphxp

A focus on the skills Australia needs in the coming decades

A focus on the skills Australia needs in the coming decades

EMPLOYERS would put more focus on work output instead of work hours in the workplace of the future, but senior managers are divided on whether increased flexibility would enhance or damage productivity, according to a new survey.

The study conducted for The Australian by Hall & Partners Open Mind of 103 senior managers across a broad range of industries found nearly two-thirds expected flexible working arrangements to become more popular in the future.

Almost 70 per cent believed more people would work freelance or as consultants, but opinions were mixed on whether flexibility would help or hit productivity.

The survey was conducted across a range of industries including manufacturing, resources and energy, aviation, transport and healthcare.

Almost 70 per cent of respondents said there would always be a need for a central physical office.

A study released last month by the Australian Communications and Media Authority found that as of May this year there were 5.6 million adults who used the internet to work away from the office outside “working hours”, or to work from home rather than coming into the office.

ACMA claimed this comprised 51 per cent of the total number of employed Australians at the time, which increased to 70 per cent when considering workers with a university qualifications.

While respondents to the Hall & Partners survey were overwhelmingly supportive of more workplace flexibility for employees, some expressed concern about the dangers of reduced worker accountability.

More than 60 per cent believed there was a danger that too much flexibility in the future workplace, could damage productivity.

Just over half agreed that a major challenge in offering flexible work arrangements would be the loss of management control over employee time.

The great majority (74 per cent) believed that training and education would have to improve so that workers were better prepared for change; and more and cheaper childcare services would be crucial in the future (68 per cent).

A majority felt that the education system or their companies did not provide adequate training to prepare employees for the digital era.

While more than half felt their companies were well prepared for the digital age, a majority were concerned about managing and protective privacy (78 per cent).

While 87 per cent believed the internet was important for their company, only 44 per cent thought likewise about the National Broadband Network.

In September a survey of more than 4000 people for NBN Co, the company delivering the network, found that one in 10 Australians would work from home more often if they had a better internet connection.

Seek co-founder Paul Bassat told The Australian and GE’s Powering Australia Future of Work forum that while the NBN had an important role in promoting workplace flexibility, a greater impact would come from the increasing availability of cloud-based software, which made it much easier to access software remotely.

‘’Having really, really good bandwidth — fixed bandwidth as well as mobile bandwidth — is really important and I think NBN has got an important role to play,” he said. “But it’s primarily just because we want people to have as fast a bandwidth as possible and it’s going to make flexibility much easier.’’

Cloud computing allows organisations to provide collaboration and communication tools, software, applications and access to documents and databases to their employees from anywhere.

It also allows small organisations to use video conferencing, a service normally only available to big companies with significant IT budgets.

Source:  The Australian

Some people find retiring hard to do

By MICHAEL LAURENCE
There is a fast-growing global trend for people to remain in the workforce well past traditional retirement ages. | Illustration: Carolyn Ridsdale

There is a fast-growing global trend for people to remain in the workforce well past
traditional retirement ages. | Illustration: Carolyn Ridsdale

Some older workers find retiring hard to do. With the right financial advice and lifestyle adjustments, they can continue to work – and it can even prove good for their health.

Jenny and Peter “Herb” Gardner have created what many would regard as an idyllic transition to retirement on their organic vineyard in Canowindra, 300km west of Sydney.

In a textbook example of long-term planning, the Gardners bought the land 13 years ago, planted their first grapes that same year and then built a straw-bale house clad in local clay.

The first vintage of Gardners Ground wine was produced within three years.

Meanwhile Jenny, now 67, and Herb, 70, progressively shed their Sydney life as they became more confident that the “experiment” was working: they sold their inner-city home and eventually their medium-sized industrial business.

Having worked hard throughout their lives, the couple now work about 15 hours a week.

They grow the grapes, organise the wine-making and market their expanding range, calling on professional help and labour when needed.

The Gardners are representative of a fast-growing global trend for people to remain in the workforce well past traditional retirement ages, often reducing their workloads and switching, if possible, to occupations that reflect their personal interests or passions.

A special report this year on the world’s ageing workforce by The Economist magazine’s Intelligence Unit predicts: “Retirement, as experienced by post-war generations, could soon become a thing of the past.” And it seems many workers would welcome the change.

The report, commissioned by human resources and financial consultancy Towers Watson, points to European Commission research suggesting that a majority of Europeans find the prospect of working part-time and receiving a part pension preferable to full retirement.

Certainly, the broad drivers of this trend to working into old age are greater longevity, generally inadequate retirement savings and pressure on government age pensions.

In their late careers, people often want to do what they were once so passionate about in their early careers.– Alison Monroe, Sageco

Yet it appears, at least anecdotally, that increasing numbers of older people, including those with substantial retirement savings, are finding work a more fulfilling way to spend their time than being on a beach or golf course.

The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) Retirement and Retirement Intentions report shows that one in five working Australians over age 45 intends to retire at 70 or older.

Thirteen per cent never intend to retire while another 8 per cent haven’t made up their minds if they will ever retire.

By contrast, the ABS reports the average retirement age of those who retired in the past five years was 61.5 years.

Research reports and media articles tend to focus on how employers can make the most of an older workforce.

Somewhat overlooked are how individuals can best prepare themselves for working past popular retirement ages and how to make the most of the potential health and financial benefits of a longer working life.

Career coach Alison Monroe believes individuals preparing to work beyond traditional retirement ages should create a “life plan” that candidly sets out the state of their health, their personal finances and their career.

And then the plan should set out their aims to make the most of their circumstances.

Monroe, group chief executive of career consultancy Sageco, is a specialist in guiding the careers of an ageing workforce.

When drafting their plan, Monroe suggests that older workers take into account:

  • Health: Question whether you have the physical and mental agility for your present job. Should you consider a less demanding role? Should you take advice about how to improve your health – looking at exercise, stress, diet – to increase your work longevity?
  • Money: Look at your financial position, goals and commitments. And Monroe asks clients: “What does your bucket list look like and how are you going to fund it?” She typically suggests that clients see a financial planner to get a financial plan.
  • Career: Ask yourself some “powerful” questions about how your career is going, Monroe says. What aspects of your career are working well? What could be working better for yourself and your employer? What do you no longer feel skilled in or passionate about? And what work would you love to be doing? With answers to such questions, she believes older workers can create a vision for their future careers.

“In their late careers, people often want to do what they were once so passionate about in their early careers,” Monroe has found.

“But their careers have moved onwards and upwards. Sometimes, it is about designing a role to use your skills and passions even if it may mean giving away managing a team of 60 and a A$100 million budget.”

For some senior executives, the obstacle to taking on a less stressful role and working fewer hours a week is their unwillingness to take a pay cut.

Monroe suggests that executives wanting to keep working until an older age, yet at a slower pace, should be flexible about their remuneration to ensure that they will still offer employers value for money. “Don’t be greedy,” she advises.

With people living longer, the financial abuse of elders is becoming a worrying issue for accountants.

Dr John Lang, director of workplace health consultancy John Lang & Associates, agrees with Monroe about the importance of good health for those intending to work into their sixties and beyond.

He suggests that people with ambitions to work into old age adopt a practical strategy to slow the inevitable physical and cognitive deterioration from growing older.

Lang says the fundamental approach is easy to articulate – eat well, keep fit, manage stress and don’t smoke – but it is difficult for many to implement in middle age if they haven’t developed good habits throughout their lives.

He is convinced that a fit 60-year-old will outperform an unfit 40-year-old

in any standard test of cardiovascular fitness. And Lang emphasises that productive and enjoyable work is actually good for your health.

Financial planner David Rolleston CPA advises typically high net-worth clients who generally intend to keep working past traditional retirement ages – even though they can well afford to retire.

Rolleston, executive director of UBS Wealth Management and a member of CPA Australia’s Retirement Savings Centre of Excellence for retirement savings, says very few of his older clients want to spend their time “sitting on the beach 24/7” or repeatedly travelling the world.

His business-owning clients usually have no intention of ever retiring, while his clients who had careers as corporate executives usually change their work patterns before reaching 65, perhaps taking part-time work or doing something less stressful.

“My experience is that those clients who had retired early, certainly before 65, are generally finding that retirement is not for them,” Rolleston says.

“They miss the work environment so may take up board directorships and/or work with charities.”

Rolleston is finding that more of his clients still only in their forties and fifties are taking a step that is likely to eventually extend their working lives.

“They are taking six to 12 months out of the workforce,” he says, “to travel with the kids overseas or in a campervan around Australia. It recharges their batteries.”

His practical financial planning pointers for anyone considering working beyond 65 include maintaining contributions to superannuation and regularly moving superannuation savings from a so-called accumulation account into a superannuation pension account where fund earnings are not taxed.

He suggests that older working couples adopt strategies to ensure that their superannuation savings are balanced as evenly as possible between spouses.

This is as a precaution in case the law changes to tax earnings of superannuation pension accounts or superannuation pensions (which in Australia are tax-free for people aged over 60).

Reluctant retirees

Rolleston believes that working past popular retirement ages provides a “critical” opportunity to try to pay off any debts. “You don’t want to go into retirement with debt – it is very hard for retirees to get out of.”

Michael Rice, chief executive of Rice Warner, which specialises in wealth management research and advice, says individuals can potentially boost their eventual retirement income by perhaps 20 to 30 per cent by retiring at 70 rather than 65 – depending on the circumstances.

This is because their superannuation will benefit from five more years of contributions and five more years of earnings to finance what will be a shorter and therefore less costly retirement.

Rice, whose studies include adequacy of retirement savings and workforce participation, is emphatic that older workers need to “remove the mindset about a need to retire” on becoming eligible for the age pension.

He agrees with Monroe that a practical step older employees can make to extend their working lives is to critically examine their skills and to perhaps re-evaluate their worth to an employer.

“You might be earning A$200,000 a year,” Rice says, “and you may realise that you are slowing down.”

Rice suggests that older employers consider the option of approaching their bosses with a proposal to work for, say, another five years or so in return for a lower salary that reflects their perhaps reduced productivity.

“Then the employer probably gets better value for money, and you don’t have that terrible conversation where the boss says: ‘you are not as good as you used to be’.”

And here’s a final couple of tips from industrial businessman-turned-vigneron Herb Gardner for older individuals who want to make a working tree-change by setting up their own enterprises in the bush.

“Make sure you go to a district where there are professionals and qualified labour to call upon for the various parts of your business,” he says. “And look for somewhere with people who appear to reflect your desired lifestyle.”

The Asian way of retiring

Ambitions of retiring to a beach house and watching the waves break are not “culturally prevalent” among the older professional and business-owning clients of Singapore-based remuneration adviser Jon Robinson of Freshwater Advisers.

He says his professional clients tend to leave their partnerships in their mid-fifties or early sixties and take on a portfolio of assignments including company directorships. His business-owning clients remain with their enterprises into very old age.

The An Ageing Australia: Preparing for the Future report by Australia’s Productivity Commission points out that by 2060, one in eight Japanese will be aged 85 or over – compared with Australia’s projected one in 17.

In China today, only 8 per cent of Chinese are over age 65. By 2060, more than 28 per cent of its population will be over 65. And almost a third of Singapore’s population is expected to be over 65 by 2040.

Robinson says most Singaporeans who held senior positions would have adequately saved for their retirement. “[But] they are culturally driven to want to keep on working. They want to remain engaged and economically productive.”

Robinson has advised the Hong Kong and Singapore governments on their retirement policies.He says Singapore’s Central Provident Fund provides an “absolutely subsistence” income in retirement.

The position is similar with Hong Kong’s scheme, which is newer. “If you want more than that, you should have saved your own money or will have to keep on working,” he says.

Personally, Robinson, who has just turned 55, intends to keep working for as long as he can. “I find work stimulating and intellectually satisfying; it is how I prefer to spend my day. Money is not the primary motive.”

Andrew Heng, executive director of Baker Tilly Malaysia, says his professional clients tend to remain working for as long as possible.

Many give priority to providing their children with an overseas education in Australia or the UK over their retirement savings.

His higher net-worth clients with their own businesses typically keep working into their old age, perhaps “unsure of what to do if they didn’t work”.

Financial abuse of elders

With people living longer, the financial abuse of elders is becoming a worrying issue for accountants.

In Australia, adult children, particularly adult sons, are the most common perpetrators.

Financial abuse isn’t necessarily outright theft; it’s when someone illegally or improperly uses a person’s money, assets or property. It can include:

  • Misappropriation of property, money or valuables
  • Forced changes to a will or other legal document
  • Denial of the right to access personal funds
  • Forging of signatures – on bank accounts or legal documents
  • Misusing enduring power of attorney
  • Going shopping for groceries and not returning the change

CPA Australia’s Victorian Third Age Network Committee is part of a taskforce that, in conjunction with CPA Australia, will develop tools for accountants to more easily identify financial abuse of elders, assist their clients to find help, and prevent it occurring in the first place.

Identifying financial abuse is important, both for the victims and for public practitioners avoiding the risk of a negligence action. Accountants should be sensitive to any changes in a client’s behaviour or financial situation.

“Signs to look for include a client wanting to transfer assets unexpectedly, or if they are always accompanied by a family member to appointments, which may prevent honest conversations,” advises Sue Hendy, CEO of Australia’s Council on the Ageing.

Accountants should also consider that family relationships change. “Relationships and households can break down,” says Sue Marshall, general manager of Victoria Plus at Victoria University.

“If it was a business relationship, people in professions like accounting would ensure that certain safeguards were put in place.”

The elder financial abuse website and toolkit is scheduled for release in mid-2015 (look for it on cpaaustralia.com.au).

Until then, go to myagedcare.gov.au and do a search for “elder abuse concerns” for a contact list of relevant bodies.

Further reading

Access the following CPA Library items online at www.cpaaustralia.com.au/retireguide

The New Retirementality: Planning your life and living your dreams … at any age you want (eBook)

For Old Times’ Sake” by Rick Morton, The Australian, Apr 15, 2014

Older and Wiser” by Peter Garber, T+D, 2013

This article is from the November 2014 issue of INTHEBLACK.

 

Rick Brimeyer

 

Posted: Thursday, November 6, 2014

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of workers 55-64 years old working is almost four percent higher than it was prior to the Great Recession.

The number of 65 and older workers is also up, but less than 1 percent.

Meanwhile, the number of younger workers is trying to recover to pre-recession employment levels with 35-44 year-old workers down 3.6 percent and 45-54 year-olds down 2.3 percent.

Some of the growth of older workers can be explained by the huge baby boomer pool holding on to their jobs and simply aging into the 55 and older category during the past seven years.

In addition, boomers are tending to work longer than prior generations, due to improved health, longer life expectancies, fewer traditional pension plans and perhaps less-than-stellar retirement planning.

This demographic phenomenon is being used to explain various economic trends:

* Tepid employment growth and underemployment among younger workers.

* Stagnant wages due to the larger labor pool and older workers being less likely to leave a job for higher pay.

* Continued low bond yields despite the Fed reducing its aggressive bond buying program as older investors pick up the slack in the bond market as a means of paring risk in their portfolios.

The intent of this column, however, is not to debate the impact of senior workers on the economy. Rather it is to discuss the intangibles that they can bring to your work team.

Too often, especially in organizations where pay is calculated primarily as a function of seniority, management sees experienced workers’ premium pay as a prime target for cost cutting.

That might be justified in cases where a low performance issue has been allowed to fester for years or if someone is coasting toward retirement.

But it’s a mistake in cases where highly experienced employees are engaged, learning and performing.

By definition, experienced workers bring experience. They’ve ate, slept, lived and dreamed about the technical aspects of the job. They are able to differentiate between the few vital aspects needed to make things run smoothly and all the myriad of other factors that are simply noise.

Long-term employees personify loyalty. As young employees attend the 25-year work anniversary for an admired co-worker, they’re likely to be thinking, “Wow! She’s been working here longer than I’ve been alive. She’s talented and certainly has other options. I made a good decision by joining this organization.”

Senior employees also bring perspective. During the tumultuous times of my career, I searched out respected, gray-haired colleagues to help make sense of things. Their experience with inevitable economic cycles, career highs and lows was invaluable in helping me see the bigger picture.

Thus, experienced employees also can bring a sense of stability to the team. They tend to ride a smoother roller coaster than their younger counterparts. That steadiness and consistency can be a welcome attribute in a work environment that is constantly changing.

Here’s a few thoughts for my fellow boomers on how to be that valuable resource for younger workers:

* When seeking advice, others usually aren’t looking for an answer. Rather, they’re looking for someone to listen and ask probing questions they haven’t yet considered.

* While younger workers might appreciate your ability to learn from the past, they don’t need you to replay it. Share the lessons, not the detailed war stories.

* Keep learning and applying new knowledge. You’re not likely to be sought out if you’re talking about “the plant expansion project that I led back in ’85.”

As 2014 grows long in the tooth, it seems an appropriate time to recognize those senior co-workers who have played a significant role in your career or within your organization through their dedicated service.