The world’s been through a lot in the past few years. In 2022, we were recovering from a global pandemic, then watched weather records being smashed worldwide and the emergence of AI and cryptocurrency. The cost of essential goods like housing, utilities, petrol and groceries soared against a backdrop of rising inflation and interest rates.
Today interest rates are stable, inflation is not yet tamed, and super fund returns are surprisingly stable despite US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and wars in Gaza and Ukraine.
We asked people how these world-shifting events have impacted their retirement plans and what they plan to do differently. Here’s what they said.
Graeme, 78, academic, retired 2013
“I regret not having a detailed retirement plan, but who could have predicted these times? We worked out a retirement budget, but prices have gone through the roof. You need to figure out what you want to achieve in retirement before you get there. Think about what your passion is and what kind of future you want, then take the time to create a comprehensive financial plan based on your own unique needs.”
Marguerite, 68, graphic artist, semi-retired
“My husband and I are semi-retired, and both recently applied for the Age Pension. I want to continue part-time work, as I love working with creative teams, but I may feel differently in a few years. Right now, we have what we need – or think we do, but who knows? During this economic uncertainty, we have wanted to future-proof our retirement plans. A good financial adviser was recommended to us, and we found there are things we can do now that could pay off down the road, such as having a good retirement saving strategy and solid investments.”
Barbara, 68, journalist
“I put off my retirement plans when Trump and his tariffs sent the market into a tailspin, but super has bounced back. In the process though, it made me think more deeply about what I want to do and how I want to spend my time when I retire, and even if I want to retire completely at all.”
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Peter, 54, builder
“Manual labourers like myself want the pension age to come down. Builders, bricklayers, welders and even nurses and aged-care workers struggle to reach pension age without it taking its toll on our health. I began working at 16 years old and it has worn out my body. I have work-related injuries to my hips and back that will never completely heal. You can only push your body so far. My wife opened a takeaway food shop in 2023, that’s going great guns now. It’s turned out to be more successful than we expected. My plan is to stop knocking my body about and work for my wife! Sucker for punishment, hey?”
Julie, 60, social media manager
“I’m not going to retire in the conventional sense of giving up work completely, which has more to do with life purpose than making more money. I recently retrained as a therapist so I can transition out of corporate and build a private practice. Working with people energises me. Also, it’s a profession where being older is seen as an advantage, not a negative. My super balance is above average for a woman my age, but I’d like to not dip into it for as long as possible. The increase in the super guarantee is great, but I don’t plan to depend on my super to fund my senior years. Many women friends at my stage of life feel the same. They don’t see retirement as a ‘thing’ anymore. For some, that’s because they don’t want to live on less money, but mostly it’s because they get juice from their career and want it to continue. I think retirement is a bit of an outdated concept. Money has never been a driver for me, I’m more interested in living a meaningful life for as long as possible.”
Fiona, 62, small business owner
“The past five years have been the hardest for my business. From COVID-19 to Trump’s tariffs, to wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. People are on tight budgets and reluctant to spend. Holding on to staff has also been tough. These are challenging times, but what do you do? I can’t see myself selling up and retiring any time soon.”
Graham, 68, public servant, retired
“We had retirement dreams like everybody else – road trips, skiing holidays and what have you. But you don’t realise how important your health is until you start to lose it. I was counting on long-term employment to max out as much as I could before retiring, but my diabetic nephropathy and nerve damage in both feet made me realise that wasn’t a viable option. My wife is 65 and works two days a week in a dental clinic. We’re feeling the pinch.”
Phylicia, 57, project manager
“I think the word retirement needs to be changed. The days when people worked for the same company for 40 years, then went home with a gold watch are over. I’ve been retrenched four times and I’ve retrained and changed my career path twice. I’m now working from home for a manufacturing company and have my own online business that will continue to provide a passive income for me as I age. I think employment income needs to be exempt from the income test for pensioners with limited savings or assets. More needs to be done to change the outdated misconception that older folk are less valuable than younger workers. We often have more skills, abilities and experience and, when we leave the workforce, that will be lost.”
Mike, 81, marketing executive, retired
“My wife is six years my senior, and I always thought I’d be looking after her when we got old and decrepit, but it’s turned out to be the other way around. Apart from her hearing loss, she’s doing well, but I needed two major surgeries that have left me with mobility issues now. I can’t do the things I used to. We want to age well in our home and stay connected to our community, but not everything goes to plan. You have to take the good with the bad, I think.”
John, 72, photographer, retired
“My sense of happiness is tied to my relationships and the volunteer work I do in my community, rather than the amount of money I have accumulated in my lifetime. My investments have always been in people, family, friends and colleagues and I have reaped plenty of dividends. I do feel very grateful for my health these days. I’ve seen many people my age and younger struggling with illnesses that have a huge impact on their quality of life and on the lives of their partners, who often end up caring for them in their retirement.”
Thomas, 50, consultant and Becca, 44, interior designer
“We had planned to live in Sydney indefinitely, but when COVID hit, we re-evaluated and moved to Brisbane. In Sydney we could only afford a tiny two-bedroom apartment with maybe an hour’s commute to the city. Here we were able to buy a three-bedroom home with a big garden that’s just 20 minutes from the CBD. Everything we need is close by. We are hoping the longer we can work now, the better our retirement will look later.”
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Jose, 71, house painter, semi-retired
“Managing money, health and helping your grown-up kids with their life pursuits are all important, but it’s now clear to me that the most important thing in retirement is to cultivate a deep sense of spiritual meaning. If you practise kindness and gratefulness, if you care for the planet and everything in it, then your retirement years will empower you to tend to everything that really matters in life. I think it was David Bowie who said ageing is an extraordinary process whereby you become the person you always should have been. I find this very true.”
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