Sixty-plus Australians are already redefining what it means to grow older, rejecting outdated expectations for how they ‘should’ live and what they ‘should’ value – including how they spend their time and money. But are marketers in tune with the new reality of ageing?
Australians over 65 will account for 25% of the overall population in coming decades. Today’s over 45s can expect to live up to a quarter of their entire lifespan in retirement.
But there’s no need to project into the future to gain a picture of how Australians will redefine ‘ageing’ – the re-writing of this script is already well underway. Australians over 60 are already flouting convention around how they are ‘supposed’ to live; their lifestyle, what they do with their time, what they value and how they spend their money. The notion that age should dictate any of these things is fading rapidly, even amongst those currently in their late 70s and 80s.
Age is now merely a ‘number,’ an almost arbitrary figure, something that society imposes on you that comes with unwelcome baggage and expectations; suddenly at 60, 65, 70 or the rest of the world assumes that you have become a completely different person – an ‘old’ person who no longer has the same interests, tastes, skills or values – or indeed the same personality.
But the lived experience of 60+ Australians is in complete contrast – how old you felt on the inside and how you lived your life was almost never in line with the age dictated by your date of birth.
As this 64-year-old research participant put it: “I said to this lady the other day, she was 40, ‘I feel like you do, I might look older but I feel the same as you – I still like having fun, I love getting together with friends.’ Age is a mindset. My age doesn’t stop me being who I am."
The 60s are no longer the first step on the road to decline, retreat and irrelevance - from far from it. This generation – who have come of age in an era of unprecedented prosperity, the rise of the individual and the prioritisation of personal freedom - are doing their 60s their way, just as they have done everything else.
Their experience of the 60s is more like a throwback to the carefree ‘now is my time’ 20s and there is a strong sense of urgency to make the most of this decade. There are striking resemblances between the 20s and the 60s when it comes to mindset (it’s about me and what I want), lifestyle (it’s all about experience and social connection) and worldview (the world is mine to conquer, I want to engage). Being old is for ‘old’ people – not them - and ‘old age’ is still far enough away on the road ahead as to not cause concern.
“We are not like our parents, whose generation was very sedentary in retirement. We don’t want to be still, there is too much to do,” said another participant. “I go out dancing with my girlfriends, I like to have a drink. My mother didn’t do any of that when she was my age. It’s an exciting time, lots of possibilities. It’s never too late for new opportunities.”
Retirement from work is no longer retirement from life but rather the opposite; a second act, a where growth, learning, goals and discovery become more important.
And they really don’t like the way they are treated by marketers who, seemingly driven by an unconscious ageism, not only refuse to acknowledge their spending power but largely ignore them, despite the fact that they are the most prosperous generation the world has ever seen.
“We have money and we are ready to spend it,” said another participant, aged 60. “We don’t want to give it all to our kids, we want to be marketed to.”
“It annoys me with the luxury brands like Louis Vuitton, their ads are full of young girls and they don’t pay you any attention,” added another, aged 66.
“It annoys me because I’m now at the age when I can afford to buy expensive handbags – you should see my collection. But they aren’t interested in trying to sell them to me."
By Laura Demasi, research director at Ipsos