retirement: will we ever experience it?

Australians have always been associated with hard work and they say with hard work there is a reward. Many of us work hard to feed our families and to pay the increasing amount of bills. We give up our valuable time and forgo things we love knowing that in years to come we can retire, step back and do those things we still want to.

Treasurer Joe Hockey has threatened that dream, claiming that the government is reviewing the pension age, with the possibility of increasing it to 70.

He states that as we are living longer we need to review the pension age and possibly increase it. Slowly over the years the government has done this and I think every Australian is now thinking when does it stop? When will I ever be able to retire?

I’m only 21 so for me personally it hasn’t been huge worry for me, as I’m sure by the time I get to 70 it will have changed numerous times. When I first started writing this I was more concerned about my parents and how this will affect them and then I started thinking about my generation, how will this affect us?

I have been working for seven years, for someone my age that is quite a high number. Because of this I have had financial freedom and been able to travel and enjoy life. My superannuation has benefited also, not that I really notice it.

I enjoy working, I enjoy being busy and useful, mainly. I don’t particularly love what I do, it’s not my passion or what I want for a career but I like it all the same. It pays the bills and I get to meet some amazing people. But it’s tiresome and can be repetitive. I’m on my feet all day which has slowly taken it toll and I’ll admit I have terrible veins on my legs from this.

I’m sure this is the story for most retail and hospitality workers and the scary part is this is only after less than a decade of work. Last year I did thirteen days straight, by choice. And what I mean by choice is that I needed money so I had to. Do I want to do this until I’m 70?

Some people genuinely love their jobs and are lucky enough to earn money from their passion but for most of us it’s merely a source of income. We live for our weekends and nights where we can do what we actually love. We work hard knowing one day we can retire and it will all be worth it.

It’s not only the physical and mental toll that is set to be a struggle. Imagine losing your job at say 65, how difficult will it be to get another job? I recently left my job and had to go through the rigorous task of job hunting. I’m young, have been a loyal, hard worker for seven years, have volunteered at numerous places and had what I would call a good resume, but it took me two months to get a job. Thankfully it was a wonderful one, but to be honest there wasn’t many other options, especially full-time. If I found it hard now, how difficult will it be for someone a lot older? Who will be willing to employ someone over 60?

Yes, they have experience, but health? And physical tasks? I don’t like to be negative, but I can’t see many employers choosing a 60 year old over a 25 year old. It’s not just a problem for the more mature generation, but what about the young people just joining the work force? Suddenly they have a bigger competition and a lot less roles to fill. Aren’t we trying to lower the unemployment numbers?

My dad has a few rants about the government, ranging from bike lanes to the football, but his main gripe is the retirement age, and I must admit it’s one that I do share his opinion with. It’s not just him that I have concerns for though, my mother will have it worse. My parents have a nine year age gap which is probably the case for a lot of couples and usually is not of importance in everyday life.

Mum whom is not yet 50 still has over 20 years of work ahead of her whilst my dad who is creeping up to 60 and already has back problems from years of hard labouring work is now facing a never ending road of work. When he does finally get to retire mum will still be working and probably looking after my father (I hope he doesn’t read this!) who has now ruined his back and probably has other health problems from having to work long hours until he is 70.

Is this the future for women? What happened to the grey nomads? The art classes and long evening strolls? I know from my Nana’s busy social life that there is plenty of things to do after retiring. It seems the future of grannies looking after grandchildren and being active and fun will be replaced with a more exhausted granny who let’s face it is probably still working full time, looking after her even more exhausted husband whilst trying to read that book she has always wanted to read and had saved for her retirement that never seems to arrive. Dramatic? Maybe, but also the grim reality of the unreachable luxury we call retirement.