Ageing and Labour Supply in Advanced Economies – Reserve Bank of Australia Bulletin December 2017

Just before Christmas, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) released a bulletin titled “Ageing and Labour Supply in Advanced Economies”.  This bulletin looks at what is happening in the labour force as a result of the ageing of the population.

The main conclusion of the RBA is that downward pressure on the workforce as older workers reach retirement age, is being offset by increasingly delayed retirement and rising female labour force participation.

And when the RBA talks about the delayed retirement of older workers, they use the words “increasing longevity incentivises people to work longer to ensure they have adequate savings for retirement” (my emphasis).

I just laughed at the spin doctoring here.

It is my experience that the low level of superannuation that the majority of older workers have, means that they can’t afford to live on the pension.  So they are forced to delay retirement.

There is no carrot here incentivising older workers to delay retirement.  Instead there is a big stick.  Either keep working or start living in poverty.

Hence why I laughed at the spin doctoring.

As we move into the New Year, you have a choice about your financial future.

Do nothing different.  Stay on the treadmill.  Face the prospect of delaying your retirement and working till you drop.

Or make a make a New Year’s resolution to take responsibility for your own financial future.  Improve the health of your wealth, so you can get off the treadmill of working till you drop.