The suggestion has come in response to the fact Australians are living longer and will still struggle to have adequate retirement savings to last the rest of their lives.
We can talk all we like about the shift from 65 to 70, but really they are just numbers.
What’s really required is an attitudinal shift in the way we perceive people within this age bracket. How far we have to go in this respect is best highlighted by recent events in the Australian Football League (AFL), in particular, the consternation around the coaching ability of Carlton’s Michael Malthouse.
The club has a relatively young roster and after a few years of what were perceived as disappointing results, the conclusion is the club is now in a rebuilding stage.
Naturally the head coach has to drive this period of transition. Now Malthouse was hired due to his impeccable credentials – a three-time premiership-winning coach – to take on the role of lifting the Blues back to greatness.
Having been in the role for two years, after a two-year sabbatical, nothing has changed from Malthouse’s point of view. He stayed in touch with the game’s developments and returned to the coaching ranks reinvigorated to take on the task ahead of him.
Watching his performances in the coaching box, he definitely still has the passion to do what he’s doing and never looks like he wants to be anywhere else when the opening siren sounds.
But his ability is now being questioned in the wake of his charges losing their first four matches.
However, the public and commentators haven’t questioned his tactics or game plans all that much. A lot of the criticism has been levelled at him because of his age.
Malthouse turned 60 last year and many of the questions he is having to field centre on whether a 60-year-old man can nurture a young group of players through a rebuilding stage.
What’s different between this year and last year, apart from Malthouse being a year on in his life? I think a lot of AFL followers would think he still has a lot to offer, having coached his last premiership-winning team in 2010, and his body language reinforces this very point.
But all of this hasn’t put a stop to the talk and theorising about him being too old for the task.
It’s a classic example of how quickly our society is to dismiss an individual’s ability based on their age and it’s not confined to the footy-loving public.
All the noise about retirement centres on working longer and greater participation from more mature-aged individuals.
But if we allow the notions like the ones about Malthouse to continue, no initiatives to allow people to work longer to solve adequacy issues are ever going to work.
