Page 4 - Wealth-Adviser-Issue-122 (FWP)

ISSUE 122
OCTOBER 2025

BEYOND THE

TRADITIONAL

RETIREMENT

NAVIGATING AGEISM,

SEMI-RETIREMENT,

AND WEALTH IN

MODERN AUSTRALIA

depositphotos.com

BY WEALTH ADVISER sense. Workers in their late sixties and seventies increasing-
ly remain active—either by choice or due to financial needs,
Introduction: The Evolving Concept of but also to retain purpose, social connection, and mental
Retirement agility.
The Australian retirement landscape is rapidly changing. Retiring is no longer viewed as a single event, but as part
Gone are the days when winding up one’s career meant of a continuum. Some transition into part-time roles, con-
an abrupt and permanent exit from paid work in the early sulting, volunteering, or entrepreneurial activities, blending
sixties. Today, more Australians are working beyond the leisure and labour in creative ways. Australians today are in
traditional retirement age, driven by a combination of better health than ever before, and those reaching 70 have,
increased life expectancy, changing attitudes, flexible work on average, a cognitive capacity similar to what was 53 years
options, and, for many, necessity. The average Australian’s of age a generation ago. The boundaries between work and
retirement age has increased by five years over the last life after work are dissolving, encouraging people to define
two decades, reflecting not just economic pressures but a success on their own terms.
profound social and philosophical reassessment of what
retirement should mean. Redefining Retirement: Purpose, Identity,
This shift is not a short-term trend, but rather part of and Portfolio Lives
a structural change in society. Experts point out that the As the concept of retirement evolves, its purpose de-
retirement model Australians inherited was a product of in- mands a broader reflection. Many retirees and aspirational
dustrialisation, designed for physically demanding jobs that retirees now ask not just how much money they need,
older workers could no longer continue. In the modern era, but how they will spend their time, nurture relationships,
with knowledge work and remote options available, many and find meaning and satisfaction during these years. The
are questioning whether a fixed retirement age still makes traditional model—in which leaving work equals entering

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