Boomers refuse to give up working, houses and lifestyle
NEW YORK: Upbeat Baby Boomers are working well past retirement age, snapping up investment properties to pay for their lifestyles.
Savvy seniors are redefining retirement, with more focus on personal and financial independence, a survey by in-home aged-care provider RSL LifeCare shows.
Forty per cent of Boomers – the post-war babies now aged between 56 and 74 – are still working, according to the survey.
Airport West’s Greg Williams, 62, has been working as a patisserie and baking teacher for 35 years and has no plans to slow down.
“I don’t feel like I’m in my 60s so I’m not going to stop yet … there is still more to learn,” he said.
The grandfather said he was eager to keep teaching and baking for his family long after retirement.
“After retirement I see myself volunteering and teaching disadvantaged people how to bake,” he said.
The hippie generation of free love and rebellion is fiercely independent, with 61 per cent expecting to fund their own retirements without relying on the aged pension.
Women prefer to live on their own as they age, with 94 per cent wanting to live independently, compared with just 72 per cent of Boomer blokes.
Baby Boomers feel happier and healthier than their children – 91 per cent rate their wellbeing as good, although one in four of their Millennial children and grandchildren has a mental health disorder.
The survey of more than 1000 Boomers shows 99 per cent want to stay living in their own homes until they can’t care for themselves, or it is too hard for family to help them.
But they are willing to downsize to townhouses, villas and apartments where they can “lock up and leave” for road trips or holidays.
Property investments and rental income will fund retirement for one in seven Boomers, while 61 per cent will rely on superannuation and just 47 per cent on the aged pension, the survey reveals.
RSL LifeCare chief Graham Millett said many seniors found working or volunteering beyond retirement age a “life force”.
“There are people who just can’t afford to stop working but for others work gives them a sense of optimism and purpose, and they want to continue to contribute,” he said.