Challenges With Living Longer – And the Expanding Demand For Aged Care Housing Developments

Like most countries around the world, Australia has a large dilemma on its hands – old people. Now, just before kovan jewel say, “Sam, I know what you imply. Only yesterday I was driving to function and this old guy in front of me was swerving over 3 lanes and…” let me clarify. In Australia, we have a swiftly ageing population. As a result, we have insufficient housing and aged-care accommodation for them, not adequate trained employees and carers, and insufficient dollars to resolve the developing challenges.

What can the government do to aid?

The Government is properly aware of the aging challenge. So are the press, who have been writing stories on the subject for some time. But now they are making the headlines. The reality is, no western government can afford the impending rush of lengthy-living retired infant boomers, a cost that runs into the tens of trillions of dollars. Not only do governments have to come across a way to spend for all the promised added benefits, this pails into insignificance against the prospective bills for wellness solutions that are probably to be necessary.

Never bank on that gold watch

A current Australian Newspaper short article suggests that people today should preserve on working to keep in handle of their finances, their future, and as a outcome, their lives. As one particular of the authors noted, “the clever folks aren’t the ones retiring”, saying that those who can afford to retire, never, and these who can not afford to, do. He suggested that individuals who stay operating generally aren’t doing it for the revenue – it’s the pure pleasure and challenges that keep them ‘young’. They prefer to engage with the planet, not withdraw from it. And then there are these who just want to defer the entire thought of retirement. In other words, it appears like most of us are going to have to operate until we drop.

Will you nonetheless have to have me, will you nevertheless feed me, When I’m 94?

Persons tend to believe, “If I’m 65, I’ve got a 15-year life expectancy”. But this is primarily based on the notion that life expectancies for young children born today are somewhere around 80 years. What quite a few of us are forgetting is that if you make it to 65, your life expectancy is a lot longer than 15 extra years. Take a appear at these figures, primarily based on actuarial probabilities in the USA (and equivalent figures apply in Australia):

2000 statistics – If a couple is aged 65, there’s a 62% probability a single of them is going to reside past age 90.

1970 statistics – If a couple is aged 65, there is a 40% probability one of them is going to live previous age 90.

This is a enormous change in a fairly brief period of time and is a single of the principal causes Australia is seeing such a demand for aged care and seniors housing development finance.

Why is Australia’s aged population developing?

The key factors folks are living longer is since we:

consume healthier food
watch our diets and weight
physical exercise much more
use drugs that reduced cholesterol, blood-stress, heart and reflux issues
scan earlier and far more usually for cancers.
Consequently ‘longevity risk’ is fast becoming a large trouble and few seem to realise it. Living longer sounds very good, but it has its issues. Not least of which is running out of income!