New research has found career interruptions – often from caring for elderly parents – are leaving women with less in retirement, even if they don’t have children.
The national Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey – conducted by researchers from the University of Sydney, University of NSW and Curtin University – found single women over the age of 45 were far more likely to be lumped with caring responsibilities for ageing family members than any other group.
These late in working life career interruptions had a pronounced effect on their retirement nest egg.
Single women “locked out” of housing market
Associate Professor Myra Hamilton from the University of Sydney’s School of Business said many of these women now felt that they’d been “locked out” of the housing market for life.
“Many didn’t have the disposable income to save, and this limited their opportunities to add to their super and enter the housing marketing and led to more frequent experiences of financial hardship,” Dr Hamilton said.
For us, this only serves to illustrate the advantages of a retirement village or land lease community.
A smaller nest egg means you have to make every dollar count.
The comparatively lower entry price of a retirement village or land lease community means retirees, no matter what their situation, will have more in their back pocket.
Add to this the lower overheads, more manageable environment and the chance to meet likeminded people in a relaxed setting, and villages or land lease communities seem like a winner to us.
