It seems many older Australians making the transition from work to retirement are changing their minds, according to the latest available data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
ABS workforce figures from 2016-2017 reveal that 177,500 Australians aged 45 years and older who had previously hung up their work clothes for good have either already returned to work or were planning to.
The stats say that nearly half (42 per cent) of these people were going back to work for financial reasons, while 32 per cent stated they were simply “bored and needed something to do”.
Unfortunately, it’s not surprising that most of this group (108,200) were women.
You might remember our story from a couple of weeks ago that showed there is currently a 42 per cent gender gap in retirement savings, putting women at a significant financial disadvantage during their retirement years.
Money being an issue for retired Australians isn’t a shock given the current rising cost of living
According to the ABS Living Cost Index for 2018-2019, after-tax incomes needed to increase by two to two-and-a-half per cent over the past year in order to keep up with living expenses – the fastest increase in four years.
And the biggest increase in expenses was for pensioners – a cost spike of over 0.7 per cent alone in the December quarter of 2018.
Retirees today are also living a lot longer than in previous decades, meaning they need to stretch their superannuation savings across a larger period.
That’s worrying considering the ABS data shows more than half (54 per cent) of retired Australians over 45 said their main expected source of personal income would be their super.
It’s a complex issue, but there are small things we can all be doing to maximise our financial security before retirement.
Check out these four quick tips from Inside Small Business for keeping your superannuation healthy in your working years.
