Retirement
Women need to plan ahead to avoid this ‘perfect storm’
If you’re a woman born between 1960 and 1962, you can expect to live 6.3 years longer than your male counterpart, but with these years come extra challenges.
Women need to plan ahead to avoid this ‘perfect storm’
If you’re a woman born between 1960 and 1962, you can expect to live 6.3 years longer than your male counterpart, but with these years come extra challenges.
That’s according to Australian Unity Trustees executive general manager Emma Sakellaris and wills and estates accredited specialist Anna Hacker.
Speaking in Sydney on Wednesday, the two explained that as women often outlive their partners, if they don’t have a strong estate plan in place, they could be at risk of a perfect storm.
Ms Sakellaris explained: “We [women] do live, often much longer than our male counterparts, which does place women in quite a vulnerable position, particularly if they're reliant on family, as far as housing and as far as care.”
Ms Hacker gave the example of an older woman who wanted to change her will but felt she couldn’t because she was living with her children, and feared that if the new will upset her children then she would be kicked out.
“So, she's having pressure put on her to not do what she wants to do because she's reliant on her children,” she said.
“I think that creates a perfect storm for elder abuse and that's something where there's a lot of parents out there living in granny flats, and sometimes it works but there need to be pretty strict agreements in place because when something goes wrong it goes very wrong.”
Continuing, she noted that all of the similar cases in which a parent has been living in a granny flat have involved the mother.
Ms Sakelleris added that as women live longer, the likelihood of intergenerational conflicts arise.
“I talk about this all the time, the new generation whose parents are living longer think that it's essentially their right to take money from their parents because they have to wait so long for the inheritance, so they don't understand why they can't just simply access the money,” she said.
To Ms Hacker, there's an issue with the support available to older women. She commented, “It's devastating but we are seeing it with women more and more, everyone is living longer [and] they're needing support and there's not maybe that connection with getting that support out there.”
Ms Hacker said no one ever wants to believe that family relationships will break down, or that a partner will die prematurely, but that like prenuptials agreements it’s important to engage with unpleasant possibilities.
“We are seeing a growing number of cases where people set up these structures and think they're all alright, but then someone passes away and it all goes down the gurgler,” she said.
“It has to be done when you have capacity but what we usually see is that people don't want to anticipate that something is going to go wrong.
"A well-prepared estate plan, developed with both partners when they are fit and healthy, is one of the best ways of avoiding this kind of 'worst case' scenario, and protecting women as they age."
Retirement Planning
Retirement time bomb requires complex thinking
The majority of Australia’s super assets now sit in the hands of retirees and pre-retirees, but many require more nuanced investment strategies to achieve the lifestyle they want in retirement, a ne...Read more
Retirement Planning
Why some Millennials are struggling to save for retirement
Millennials are struggling to save for retirement as they face challenges that are different from other generations. What are these reasons? ...Read more
Retirement Planning
Retirement Income Review cornerstone ‘not for everyone’
Despite being the cornerstone of the Retirement Income Review, an expert has highlighted that downsizing and withdrawing equity from a property might not be the solution for all older Australians. ...Read more
Retirement Planning
Effective tips that can help Millennials retire faster
Millennials have changed the cultural and societal landscapes of the world. This is unsurprising, given the fact that they are the best educated and most diverse generation in history. ...Read more
Retirement Planning
What you need to know to get ahead financially
Australians looking to get ahead are being advised to analyse their financial situation, set financial goals and reduce debt whenever possible. ...Read more
Retirement Planning
How to adjust your wealth strategy during COVID
Investors are being urged to be conservative about spending, reduce debt and be careful of assets that are supported by government spending, as they look to adjust their wealth strategies during the f...Read more
Retirement Planning
Should older Australians downsize their property?
Older Australians face the dilemma of not being confident about their retirement outcomes, but are among the wealthiest retirees in the world due to a large proportion of their wealth being tied up i...Read more
Retirement Planning
Self-funded retirees ‘hung out to dry’ by 2020 budget
The Association of Independent Retirees has slammed last night’s federal budget release, accusing the government of overlooking older Australians in its post-COVID-19 recovery plans. ...Read more
Retirement Planning
Retirement time bomb requires complex thinking
The majority of Australia’s super assets now sit in the hands of retirees and pre-retirees, but many require more nuanced investment strategies to achieve the lifestyle they want in retirement, a ne...Read more
Retirement Planning
Why some Millennials are struggling to save for retirement
Millennials are struggling to save for retirement as they face challenges that are different from other generations. What are these reasons? ...Read more
Retirement Planning
Retirement Income Review cornerstone ‘not for everyone’
Despite being the cornerstone of the Retirement Income Review, an expert has highlighted that downsizing and withdrawing equity from a property might not be the solution for all older Australians. ...Read more
Retirement Planning
Effective tips that can help Millennials retire faster
Millennials have changed the cultural and societal landscapes of the world. This is unsurprising, given the fact that they are the best educated and most diverse generation in history. ...Read more
Retirement Planning
What you need to know to get ahead financially
Australians looking to get ahead are being advised to analyse their financial situation, set financial goals and reduce debt whenever possible. ...Read more
Retirement Planning
How to adjust your wealth strategy during COVID
Investors are being urged to be conservative about spending, reduce debt and be careful of assets that are supported by government spending, as they look to adjust their wealth strategies during the f...Read more
Retirement Planning
Should older Australians downsize their property?
Older Australians face the dilemma of not being confident about their retirement outcomes, but are among the wealthiest retirees in the world due to a large proportion of their wealth being tied up i...Read more
Retirement Planning
Self-funded retirees ‘hung out to dry’ by 2020 budget
The Association of Independent Retirees has slammed last night’s federal budget release, accusing the government of overlooking older Australians in its post-COVID-19 recovery plans. ...Read more
More articles
Website Notifications
Get notifications in real-time for staying up to date with content that matters to you.
