The Babyboomers’ Guide

The Baby Boomers’ Guide
Making the most of the rest of your life
by Ron Giles

You can buy the book here

Introduction

If you are one of the one million people aged between 42 and 60 living in New Zealand, it is time to address this question: how long have I got to live? Most of you probably answered well, I should live another 20 years. Say it turns out that you only have 5 years to live – have you made the most of your life? Have you achieved all your goals? Have you visited all the ‘must see’ places in the world? You may well prove to be one of those lucky people that do indeed have 20 years to live and can successfully accomplish all your goals. But can you count on that? Maybe it is time to start making the most of the rest of your life. Many titles have been coined for this period: the Third Age; the Golden Age; the New Retirement. These terms are not overly attractive to those of us that are still working. It is simply the rest of your life – what are you going to do with it?
Many of us baby boomers are now in our fifties and contemplating retirement. We believe we are trendier and younger-thinking than our parents were at the same age. We certainly don’t consider ourselves ‘old’ and we want to enjoy life while we can. Those of us intending to retire want to do so while we are still fit and healthy. It does not make much sense putting this off until we are too old or decrepit to enjoy it. The coming wave of retiring baby boomers has the potential to transform New Zealand’s economic and social landscape in ways we have yet to even consider. Our generation revolutionised child rearing, education, politics, workplace practices, civil rights and many other important issues. We will now revolutionise how future generations regard retirement.
It is a fact that most people tend to slow down in later life. Although some 90-year-olds are still very active, many people in their 80’s find they have less energy and are unable to enjoy life as much as they used to. Recent gains in life expectancy are tempered by the fact that for many, old age has become a story of chronic illness and increasing disability. Will this be the same for the baby boomers or will new technologies and medicines push back the age where people are considered to be old?
The early years of retirement are when you're most likely to have the health and vigour you need to pursue your passions. So it would be unfortunate to miss that fun by postponing retirement because of money issues. Retired New Zealanders are among the most active retirees in the world. We love our travel, hobbies, sport, walking, gardening and DIY projects. We don’t want to waste precious leisure time doing things we don’t enjoy.
But the questions of when to retire, where to retire, what will be our income needs and health care options have not yet been addressed by many baby boomers. A lack of planning can make the decision of when, or even if, to retire a difficult one for the average wage/salary earner or small businessperson. Not only is there often a lack of a guaranteed income but the fears of a sharemarket crash or housing downturn means there are a lot of issues to consider and the information on them is not easy to accumulate.
If your financial situation does not allow you to retire from all work, a possible compromise might be a phased retirement. This would see you working fewer hours or switching to a job that allows you more leisure time. That could mean you could postpone depleting your retirement fund while you keep yourself active and achieve your retirement goals. The intriguing thing is that many people are beginning to recognise that stopping work completely may not necessarily be the right option. It may not be the work you are doing now but it will be work of some description. We want a new kind of life; if not a new career, then at least a new adventure.
This book will try to summarise all the information on the wide range of important matters that need to be considered before making the decision to retire. Checklists, quizzes, and planning guides will be provided so each reader can complete a personal Retirement Plan and be confident that they have allowed for every contingency. Further resource material will be available via a supporting website for those areas of particular interest to individual readers.
So, what are you going to do with the rest of your life? Let’s explore the options.

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