Baby boomers in a family friendly good mood
The mood amongst Australia’s baby boomers ranging from their 50s to 70s is mostly optimistic with people proud of their nation and its achievements, and believing they are lucky to live in this country.
In a major national survey of over 2,500 people across Australia conducted for Australian Pensioners Insurance Agency (APIA), the big issues for over 50s are climate change, health, time spent with their families and education. Over 90% of those surveyed also “strongly agreed” that Australia should explore “all types of energy”.
With health, people believe they already pay much more attention to the issue than their parents. Many are still worried about the quality of medical care while over 30% “believe in alternative therapies and medicine”. They disagree with using plastic surgery for cosmetic reasons and also disagree with losing weight for anything other than health reasons.
Golf, lawn bowls and tennis are the top three sports they say they most like to play and when it comes to trying something new it is arts, crafts and dancing for women and golf, water-sports and fishing for men.
Family issues are very important and spending time with families is a top priority but over 60% strongly agree there is “too much pressure” on today’s families to quickly acquire homes, cars and other possessions – a trend they describe as “needing to have it all”.
Over 50s are clear they want to make the choice about when to retire and do not believe the official retirement age should be raised or older workers made to retire earlier than they want. They firmly believe they should not have to accept lower pay to enable them to keep working past the official retirement age.
Most surveyed say they do not have enough savings to fund their own retirement and will need to rely on the pension and other government assistance.
A large number say “you do not need to be wealthy to enjoy retirement”. Most say they are more careful with their spending. They also take a keen interest in the share-market and learning to invest their money differently and more carefully.
