Why a traditional retirement may be pushed back 25 years

I completely agree. In addition to those who do physical labour, those of us who work in healthcare can find it mentally exhausting. The emotional load of working through the problems of others daily takes its toll. On the flipside, we often have the opportunity to reduce hours or re-train, if we have still have the energy.

Always fascinating to read the thoughts of people on retirement - particular those that are too young to have actually retired and are in the business of selling products and/or knowledge to the "retirement community" such as our authors above.

Note to the authors - not everyone loved their work/job, not everyone gets a choice when they retire, and definitely not everyone slips into steep cognitive decline the minute they give up paid employment. People do other things and have other sources of energy and inspiration and enjoyment.

As for this comment - " It's boggling that we are still behaving like 53 is the end of our life" - it's not boggling at all, because no-one thinks that. This is a tactic of modern commentary - blogs and podcasts and opinion pieces - make a fatuous remark and then discuss it. Pretty easy when there's no-one there to challenge you on it.

That 53 number is probably quite close to the average age of a CEO in an ASX200 company, so I'm pretty sure that, seeing they're essentially controlling the wealth of Australia via productive industry that the rest of us invest our superannuation and other monies into, they don't think that 53 is the end of their life.

It's my belief that a lot of people would love to keep working BUT there is a lot of ageism in the workplace, particularly if you lose your job in your late 50's or so.
Until this is addressed by HR managers and workplace managers the problem will continue, even though older people can contribute so much.

When my crowd of friends was 20 we could have kept ourselves very busy enjoying each other's company if we didn't have to work. It would seem bizarre if at age 65 when we've added spouses, kids and likely grandkids that we'd want to keep working if we don't have to.
I expect some who keep working genuinely love their work. Others will be doing it as they've forgotten what to do with free time, or are fearful of having nothing to do. For the 2nd group, your options are to spend a little time planning and then rip off the bandaid, or keep working until you pass away or can't work and likely live your concerns.

I think that people should start thinking about "retirement" well before they "retire". In other words have a clear exit strategy so that they are not retiring from their job but moving onto their next one (which may be less demanding). In other words, people need to think about having "portfolio lives", so that when they leave one job they already have plan for the next one. I am now aged 77 and keep busy via broadcasting, teaching, and public speaking. Don't have all your eggs in the one basket.

Im 60 but cannot retire, as we have a 1 yr old grand-daughter to care for on a weekly basis. Plus as an adviser, why retire - I have to manage my own retirement funds.

Having reached my '80s, I am discovering that, in my case, navigating retirement in a way which satisfies my interests and skills is running into ageism.

I have experienced it a couple of times, on one occasion in seeking some casual teaching work (to run alongside my life as an actor), where I believe I was 'dropped' on appearance alone by the recruiter I met in person following a phone call in which he sounded positive about my prospects. Even my PhD completed in my late '70s didn't count.

I believe I could pass for someone in my '50s, in fact: I am occasionally put up for roles for characters in their '50s.

For those who wish to embark on ageist behaviour actively, be aware that we know you can pick any number you like. You will be conditioned by your workplace, certain personal experiences with particular 'older' workmates, your feelings about your own self, about the age which you have attained, your sense of your state of health which you may project onto others. You will be conditioned by the level of your commitment to others, by your metaphysical take on the world, including an awareness of approaching death, and your ignorance that there are others, not you maybe, who are capable and still up for it at any age. When they can't do it any more, they will tell you. They usually know when that time comes.

Retired at 52 from a job that I actually enjoyed doing. Now 62 and still loving life and what I get to do every day - no cognitive decline evident yet!

My mum died at 62 from cancer, so my decision to retire at 62 was easy. After 3+ intense decades with Big Tech, money is no issue. Perhaps late 50s would have been better, as subsequent pandemic restrictions were frustrating. On average, I'll be lucky to get another 5 years before chronic health issues emerge. Now in my early 70s, I've enjoyed the financial freedom and more time for meaningful social connections and exploration. Until 75, I will work once a year for 40 hours to enable $30k p.a. of tax-deductible super contributions, slowing balance erosion. When not traveling, swimming and walking with groups of 65-90 year-olds lets me observe the pace of physical decay in real time. Don't work longer than necessary, unless you have nothing better to do.

what are you retiring from and what are you retiring into? Especially in the western world including ours the elephant in the room is loneliness . Loneliness today is a epidemic in this country as your circle of friends and family gets smaller and smaller . In the UK they have a minister for loneliness ,
I visit Asian countries a lot and in that culture people have a lot of time for each other unlike here.
Then they tell you to volunteer ,start this and that and you will be fine . You are not fine if everyday is like Sunday and you cannot volunteer ,go for a walk ,play golf everyday.
Unless you have a good retirement you shouldn't retire based on your financial plan alone .

Believe it or not: some working people are happily married, have launched their children, and simply wish retirement to enjoy more couple time together.

I retired at nearly 50, almost 20 years ago and have not regretted it for one moment. The best advice I had was to do something every morning and the afternoons will take care of themselves.

One of the best things I have done in my life was to retire in 1998 at age 57. I have never been lonely and never missed work. I immediately directed my energy into designing and building our retirement home and then got involved in volunteer work that was extremely fulfilling working for the betterment of our community. I keep my brain as active as possible by researching many different topics and loving photography. During all this time I have played golf and expanded my list of contacts, had free time for our extended family and travelled extensively around our beautiful country in our caravan coupled with a few overseas trips. I have never regretted my decision on early retirement.

you must be a ex public servant with a big defined benefit pension. not many are able to retire early and spend decades building houses and traveling overseas. i dare say you were born lucky at the right time and received an inheritance

"you must be":

You have not considered all the possibilities, some of which are:

Save 50% of after tax income with investment returns after tax and inflation of 0% / y to accumulate capital:
= FV(0%, (57 - 18), -50%, 0)
= 19.5 times initial after tax income.
Drawdown capital to $0:
= PMT(0%, (87 - 57), -19.5, 0)
= 0.65 times initial income cash flow.

Save 50% of after tax income and invest luckily earning 10% return / y to accumulate capital:
= FV(10%, (57 - 18), -0.5, 0)
= 200.72 times initial after tax income.
Drawdown capital to $0:
= PMT(10%, (87 - 57), -200.72, 0)
= 21.29 times initial income cash flow.

I had hoped to retire to Thailand at 50 but the changes to superannuants being allowed to take all their superannuation with them if they were leaving the country permanently put a stop to that.

Then the plan B of transition to retirement at 55 and a winding down period until I hit 60 and could retire was ruined by raising TTR to 60.

2 years and 2 months to go until 60 comes around for me and I can access my Superannuation and retire. Hopefully the rules do not change yet again.

My personal view, I'll be dead too long to keep working until I die. The path I have left to walk this Earth is far shorter than that I've already walked.

Work until I'm 80 ? ( if I live that long ) .
Crazy idea. Forget it

Yes, knowledge workers can physically continue working past their 60s, and provided early onset dementia doesn't get them, mentally as well....right up until they are replaced by AI.

I love my work. I’m 57, could have retired financially around 50. I play sport, travel and have a pretty busy life but I enjoy it. My wife feels the same, she loves her job too.

I don’t like golf that much, dislike fishing and hate gardening and all my friends are still working.

I do work only 4 days which is great and plan to start working part of the year in other countries which I’m looking forward to.

I get to help people every day of my working life and this is where I get my pleasure from. Maybe if/when we get grand kids my views may alter but I can’t be with them all the time either.

I’ll see how it goes. Just continuing to grow the back of mum and dad for the kids.

I retired from a fantastic job at 60. It took me an hour to punch through the stress of it but I got there, no regrets at 74. Bought van & spent 2.5 yrs on big lap. 12 mths to Nth QLD, + NSW & high country a few times THEN grand kids arrived, Karma after kids. There’s no prouder feeling than seeing 2 & 5 yr olds running to get to you first. Don’t stress grandkids will throw plans out AND you’ll be thankful. Spare time, Stockmarket: minerals, set n forget, passive.

Covid taught us that life can be taken away very quickly. We have a goldilocks time of life from say 60 years old to our early 70s. The kids have grown up, hopefully the mortgage is paid off and we still have our health. I recommend early retirement to anyone who is able.... travel, volunteer, exercise, learn. Do something that gives your life meaning and don't waste it exchanging your precious remaining hours for dollars.

I'm 62 and my work involves physical labour, perhaps I'm lucky but it actually keeps me fit and well. The last few years have been a great period for me both physically and financially and I intend to keep going for a couple more years.

The implications of this conversation are very different in different contexts.
If it's just a couple of people chatting about their personal attitudes to retirement, then great, they're entitled to their opinions.
If it's a lifestyle advisory conversation trying to make the point that retirement can be devastating for some people's sense of well-being and identity, then it makes some important observations that are worth others thinking about.
BUT if it's a government policy conversation arguing for the pension age to be pushed back to 80 and the age at which super can be accessed pushed back from 55 - 60, then that's another ballgame entirely.

I don't think it's the latter, but I'm not prepared to show any signs of agreeing with what they say until I know for sure!

Reminds me of a meme I saw on Facebook today. "They expect us labouring workers to work until 70yrs of age, this was decided by public servants and politicians who never lifted anything heavier than a pen."

It's horses for courses and everyone has different thoughts and feelings about what is right and suits them for their "retirement". The important thing is you need to plan a long way ahead for it and make sure you have the finances to support it. So good planning is very important.

I retired 13 years ago when I was still young and healthy enough to enjoy life, travel and play sport and I'll tell you there is no better feeling in life than having the financial freedom to do whatever you choose to do every day, and not being forced to go and do what other people want for the money (work). Now even my most boring days of retirement are better than any days I had at work.

It's each to their own, but I still contend that the majority of people would choose the financial freedom or retirement instead of the grind of work.