We have already accepted that we will not retire at 65. The nation needs us and on a personal level our bank balances need us to keep working.

The workforce needs Mature Age skills, the government needs taxes to pay for us in health and aged care and we need the cash so our bank accounts stay healthy and our assets intact. So don’t get caught up in the ‘I’m too old' mentality because only you will make that decision.

Tell companies that interview you for work about your mature skills and what you can offer them with these unique skills. ‘Talk the talk’ as the young ones say and proudly ‘walk the walk’. It doesn’t matter if you are not the boss anymore as it is less pressure. Take what you can get and allow for time out so you can enjoy life and live for tomorrow.

• There is no doubt that it was through our letters to political parties asking them for their policies on Baby boomers (they had none in 2001) and our innovative ideas such as the boomer music festival first mooted in 2001 that allowed for such great outcomes as ‘It’s a long way to the top’ and current interest by all political parties in the future for mature age. I am not claiming all the credit here but this site has been seen by over a million boomers.
• We have given loads of information and research to all forms of the media about Baby boomers and our thoughts and achievements.

• Having worked now with mature age since 1997 (firstly with the Grey Army in Australia, Grey Skills in NZ, Personal Adviser to that target group, Mature Age Expos and Maturelink for the Federal Government and now as a counsellor to Mature Age in a community organisation), I have both an enormous pride in what we have achieved to date and a feeling of empowerment about highlighting future needs. The latest presentation is Mature Age Moving Forward and we have presentations for employers and the public.

• This site first started advocating that it was the Baby boomer surge that was the biggest problem for future governments and that has really come to the light in the past few years. We are all well aware that because we will live longer, we will need to work longer so we can have sufficient funds to support ourselves through decades of retirement.

• Good financial advisers are now assisting us to plan realistically for the future and not put all our eggs in one basket when we invest.

• We are also aware that there is a worsening skill shortage because of the zero population growth in recent decades and the boomer surge that will see many of us retire without a replacement. The workforce is not growing to meet our future needs.

Mature Age Skills

• There is a push for greater participation of older workers in the workplace but it is a slow one. The Hudson report of July 2006 is worthwhile reading as it has the results of what older workers really want. They want incentives to stay and they don’t want to be doing the same things as they have done for 40 years. Job sharing, part time work, mentor roles with the young, project work, on-call and more holidays for them so they can see Australia but still do some work as they travel. This is a great way of getting skilled workers into the rural areas I would think by allowing them to camp on site and work for 3 to 6 months to assist.

• One of the reasons the Federal government asked me to develop the Maturelink project recently was to highlight what is being done by everyone to assist the mature age. There is a lot being done for mature age but it is difficult to find the information. Maturelink was stopped when the new governemnt took over but the need is still there. Why do Over 50s have to see 65 as the finish line? This is a time for new careers. I have written to Kevin Rudd and made my suggestions.

• The federal Dept of Employment and Workplace Relations have advisers visiting employers to highlight the need for retention and retraining of older workers and Centrelink has the Welfare to Work initiative to support Over 55s.

• The State Government in Qld has the Experience Pays strategy to highlight mature age skills and encourage older workers to retrain. You can secure a mature age apprenticeship through them. They also have Skilling Solutions Qld that enable people to discover what prior learning skills can be recognised if you want to retrain or take a course to upgrade. You need to know the whole picture so you can make informed choices and this is not happening at the moment.

• I believe quite strongly that we need to think as the young ones do and look at a new career in our fifties and sixties and not just focus on benefits and pensions. It is not productive for you or the country to spend 40 years in retirement without a steady income.

• We also need employers to think mature age policy. Involve your workers in planning for their future roles in your workplace and think outside of the box. I did not feel valued in my previous roles at Centrelink even though I was given National and State Awards. Micro management is the order of the day there and the stress is unimaginable. My anxiety is a product of that part of my life.

• Feedback to this site also outlines discrimination by co-workers (often in a humorous sense) in their workplace, bosses who fear the skills of the older workers and frustration in not being listened to. You are asked to do the most menial tasks even though you have decades of people skills and you are not treated with respect.

• Anyone over 50 in the workplace should be in a mentor role and not treated as a candidate for the old aged home. The employer should be highlighting their value to their workplace and recognising that value by allowing them freedom of choice on what hours they want to work. The younger ones will understand in time that this is the privilege of growing older and their turn will come. Advocate now for a Mature Age policy in your workplace.

• Aged care and health requirements will be covered in future months but we can not all go into aged care because there are too many of us so best we start negotiating with our kids to swap roles. We go to the back of the house and they move (with their new family) into the front. This will help them by having a home and not renting and they can keep an eye on us.

•  It is time we embraced Eastern culture by respecting and involving senior family members in our daily lives.

• We will also need to participate in some way to stay healthy so don’t sit back and retire or you will not be around too long to enjoy this wonderful world we live in.

Cheers

Brian Murphy

Editor/ Life Coach/Employment Counsellor/Educator

bvmurphy@bigpond.net.au