Musings about life in retirement from academe
For many Australians January is becoming a time for reflecting on what and when might be appropriate for national celebration. January 26 has become awkward and contentious as a focus for celebration but it does invite reflection about our history, much of it long hidden from many of us, and current circumstances.
To Australians who have lived more than a few decades and travelled even occasionally outside major cities it must be apparent that the countryside has degenerated. Most obvious to us is the reduction in even ponded water, let alone flow, in the Lockyer Creek which we cross at Helidon and near Gatton on our way East to Brisbane or the...
It’s hardly surprising that, as we approach and enter retirement, we take a more active interest in retirement incomes and how they are generated. Interest rates are too low to preserve the value of savings against inflation let alone do that while generating an income stream that will support any reasonable lifestyle. Hence superannuation and other savings, or at least...
I find it difficult to avoid increasing awareness of economics nowadays. That’s especially true since I retired and our superannuation savings were flipped into income phase leaving us exposed to the vagaries of the financial markets. Being in the markets didn’t seem so bad while I was working and had an income stream adding to superannuation. Now things are running...