Equity Trustees (EQT) says two-stage retirement is creating new service needs for the financial sector.
Phil Galagher, head of wealth management at EQT, said the financial sector must not only focus on the retirement of baby boomers, but that of elderly retired Australians as well.
"The needs of more elderly retirees are quite different from those of active retirees and have to be factored in by service providers," Galagher said.
"For example, the number of Australians aged over 85 has doubled as a percentage of the total population in the last 20 years, and at the same time increased in numbers by over 170 per cent," he said.
Equity’s announcement comes on the back of the Productivity Commission’s inquiry report into the aged care system.
It also follows EQT’s acquisition of two advisory businesses specialising in the aged care sector, Lifetime Planning and Tender Living Care.
"The number of Elderly Retirees is only going to increase further as Australians live longer and baby boomers grow older," Galagher said.
Galagher said that the needs of less active retirees are not as well served as baby boomers, but trustee companies are well placed to deliver such resources to an already strained sector of financial services.
"Trustee companies have been doing this type of thing for years, so we are used to arranging such support for clients," he said.
"We are familiar with responding to client needs when they still take an interest in their affairs, setting up financial arrangements to reflect their wishes, and then acting under enduring power of attorney when they are no longer capable," Galagher said.
Galagher said that providing such services to the elderly will see significant and immediate growth at EQT.
"There will be a corresponding increased demand in specialist financial services and hands-on assistance to manage the affairs of people, either no longer able to be, or not interested in being, involved themselves," he said.
