Are you ready to work until 70? The pension qualifying age will be age 70 for everyone by July 1, 2035, from 65 for most people now.
Sounds far off, doesn't it until you realise it is being phased in.
The exact qualifying age with depend on actual birth dates but very roughly, anyone aged about 49 or younger now will have a qualifying age of 70.
However, younger boomers will be working for longer too.
Again, very roughly, today's 55-year-olds will not be accessing the age pension until they are 67 and today's 60-year-old will have to wait until age 66 for the pension.
Most retirees pick up at least a part age pension. Picking up just a few dollars a fortnight of the age pension entitles part pensioners to 100 per cent of the pensioner discounts.
These discounts are extensive. There are also the pensioner concession cards. These are non-means-tested and available to those over 60.
The states and the ACT have a work test, where the card is not available to those working full time. That means anyone working full-time to 70, except in the Northern Territory which does not have a work test, is going to be denied the seniors card.
The pensioner concession card and the senior card combined provide discounts on utilities bills, rates, car registration, public transport, healthcare prescription medicines, among many other goods and services.
Private businesses also recognise the cards for discounts.
A large part of financial planning for retirees is about how to structure the finances so as to qualify for a part-age pension, even if a few dollars a fortnight.
It is London to a brick that eventually, the preservation age, the age at which we can access our superannuation savings will rise.
At the moment, the age of super preservation age is 55 for those born before July 1, 1960, and is increasing until reaching 60 for those born after June 30, 1964.
However, the preservation age is almost certainly going to be lifted to 65.
Surveys show many still want the option of retiring at a time of their choosing but the reality is likely to be different.
The latest survey, that of more than 1600 people between 18 and 70, by researcher Galaxy and paid for by workforce management company Kronos, finds that 27 per cent of respondents said they would struggle to carry out their current duties until age 70.
Further, more than a quarter said they expect to work for as long as possible because they have not saved enough for their retirement. Better be nice to the boss and, if at all possible, salary should be sacrificed into super.
Salary sacrificing is even more important in saving for a comfortable retirement after the Abbott government extended its "temporary" freeze on the super guarantee.
The guarantee will remain at 9.5 per cent for seven years, before resuming its rise to 12 per cent. The higher super guarantee will be too late to help all but the youngest boomers.
