The first publication of Firstlinks (as Cuffelinks) was 13 years ago in Feb 2013. Longevity was an issue back then. Paul Keating reflected on the growing gap in our retirement incomes system through people living longer. David Bell wondered if people looked back, would they reflect on the performance of their super fund – or the attainment of goals and desires in life. Ashley Owen showed the first of many remarkable insights into the behaviour of markets. The very special Graham Hand outlined challenging times for 2013.
Has anything improved in our collective response to increasing longevity since then?
Superannuation contributions have stalled at 12%. Half our financial advisers have disappeared. Super funds don’t know much more about their members and even less about their life partners. Yet the Government expects them to provide lifetime products that consumers don’t understand. Annuities still struggle for acceptance. Financial advisers have a declining relationship with their clients. People are living longer, and despite a Royal Commission they are facing a more uncertain future than ever for aged care and many want to stay at home. Fear of the future defers reasonable intergenerational wealth transfer. Retiring at 67 puts productivity growth out of step with ongoing longevity increases.
Over the past 13 years there have been references to the impact of increasing longevity in almost every issue of Firstlinks. Australia has the resources to reap the benefits of longevity. Why haven't we done better?
We need a National Longevity Strategy to make the best of this steadily growing opportunity instead of treating it as a threat. What should the strategy focus on?
- Raising personal longevity awareness so that each person understands their own longevity better and can act to maximise the personal benefits available
- Promoting the importance of couples sharing longevity decisions, from midlife (age 45) and using their own longevity outlook to frame health, financial and estate planning decisions with professional advisers
- Using this awareness to more widely promote the personal and national benefits of preventive health behaviour
- Promoting the personal and community benefits of staying productive longer
- Supporting the development of guaranteed income products that complement a greater awareness of the benefits of longevity rather than being sold by promoting ‘longevity risk’
How should these outcomes be achieved? Better coordination of services related to longevity would make it better for consumers and more efficient for providers:
- Super funds should focus on raising longevity awareness in their members and member’s partner, preparing them for engagement with professional advisers in health, finance and estate planning. This can be instituted quickly and requires no regulatory oversight (unlike financial advice). It would strongly enhance the member/fund relationship. Longevity awareness raising for non-fund consumers should also be available free and promoted through Health Direct www.healthdirect.gov.au.
- Professional advisers in health, finance and law should have longevity awareness training to enable them to harmonise their advice with properly prepared consumers.
- Longevity awareness training and support should be overseen by an independent entity focused on understanding the challenges and opportunities of increasing longevity and providing content for trainers. It should be established by the Federal Government, ideally with the collaboration of service providers.
- Employers can benefit from raising longevity awareness in employees and staff, underpinning efforts to increase productivity and retain valuable employees.
- Wider understanding of the importance of longevity awareness will reduce the burden on regulation and encourage a more participatory approach.
None of this is rocket science but it does require national co-ordination. A National Longevity Strategy would provide a model which could be successfully introduced to other countries.
The technology and insights to deliver these outcomes is already available. What is required is the collective will to make them happen rapidly. We can’t wait another 13 years!
David Williams is Founder and CEO of My Longevity. Try the SHAPE Analyser to focus on your own longevity.