Retirement at 65 – you’re dreaming

Although 67 per cent of over-55s believe people aren’t capable of working full-time after the age of 69, most will not have enough savings to retire before then, according to a new Citibank retirement index report.

The report, now in its fifth edition and designed to reveal pre-retirees’ attitudes to retirement, found that 40 per cent of over-55s believe age 65-69 is the best time to retire, while a further 20 per cent said people should not work past age 64.

However, the report also found that many Australians would not have sufficient funds to retire and maintain their current lifestyles between the ages of 60 and 69.

Citibank head of investments Andrew de Vries said the results showed Australians are still leaving it far too late to plan for a comfortable retirement.

“We know that retirees are less confident their retirement savings will last the distance, but they still want to retire earlier. The latest index figure has fallen over the last six months to the lowest ever, pointing to a lapse in financial confidence.”

De Vries said there would be a negative impact on the national economy if baby-boomers retire at age 60.

“In just 14 years the over-65s could account for one in five of our population, so we will actually need older workers to continue working to keep the cogs of industry turning.”

However, the report also revealed that a significant proportion of pre-retirees planned to do some work in their retirement.

Thirty per cent of respondents said they were keen to work part-time (compared with just 26 per cent the previous year), 18 per cent said they were considering freelance work while a further 15 per cent were contemplating self-employment. An additional 23 per cent of over-55s would consider paid charity work (up 5 per cent on last year).

However, de Vries said the retirement index report also shows a divergence in what pre-retirees said they would do in retirement and what they actually end up doing.

“Despite almost half of respondents saying they intended to take up some form of paid work, only 5 per cent actually looked for it in the past 12 months. Perhaps they really do believe they are too old to work past 64. Or maybe they’ve just had enough.”