Half Of Us Will Live To 100

Half the Aussies born today will live to be 100 and it is time to introduce a senior’s gap year where older workers take a year off work to consider their next 20 years says Aged Care minister Ken Wyatt.

Describing 70 as the new 40, Mr Wyatt is warning Australians they will have to prepare for a future in which they will be healthy enough to work or volunteer well into their eighties.

“More than six million of Australians now aged between 50 and 75 are facing an extended life expectancy,” he told the National Press Club in Canberra.

Researchers at the London Business School had calculated that children born today in the US, Canada, Italy or France had a 50 per cent chance of living to at least 104, and 107 if they came from Japan.

“These projections are the real deal. Therefore, we need to seriously refocus our attention on living better,” he said.

This new age could bring us fulfilment and freedom but it has to be managed by a gradual move to part time employment, changing careers, volunteer work or a combination of both.

This indicator suggests the RBA will have trouble lifting interest rates next year.

Australia’s Leading Index, released by Westpac in conjunction with the Melbourne Institute, continues to paint a fairly dour outlook for Australia’s economy next year, indicating that growth is likely to be well below the levels forecast by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).

The indices six-month annualised growth rate, a guide as to the likely pace of economic activity looking three to nine months into the future, fell again in September, sliding to -0.21% from -0.16% in.

Given the likelihood that growth will shoot the RBA’s forecasts, Evans maintains the view that rates will not change until 2019 at the earliest.

Land prices soar to record highs

The median lot price increased 8.5 per cent to $256,683 in the 12 months to June, according to the latest Housing Industry Association-CoreLogic Residential Land Report.

Home sales across the capital cities have continued to rise in recent weeks, but the auction market has softened, with the clearance rate drifting below 70 per cent.

So . . . taking all of this into account, with us living longer into retirement:

1. Interest rates being lower for longer
2. Land prices increasing at a great rate
3. What better time, to securely plan for your financial future, by safely invest in residential property, with the experts for 23+ years now! Have a great weekend and catch you next week!

Troy Gunasekera