Extending Your Use-by Date: Why Retirement Age is Only a Number

As seen on the Today Show

While some people may hanker to retire as soon as they can, research shows that millions are likely to continue working into older age, with many planning never to retire. An ageing population represents a valuable pool of wisdom, skills and experience, and with better health and higher levels of education, more people than ever are actively choosing to work longer. In Extending Your Use-By Date, Dr Darryl Dymock examines why continuing to work later in life can be good for your health and your hip pocket.

• Research has revealed that working beyond the age of 55 keeps you challenged and engaged, and stimulates brain cell growth

• Many older workers prefer to work part-time, and changes to tax and superannuation laws make a leisurely move to retirement a much better proposition

• The shift to a ‘knowledge-based’ economy away from physically demanding labour is increasing opportunities for experienced and knowledgeable mature workers.

Extending Your Use-By Date is a practical ‘how to’ guide that includes a handy list of ways to ensure you make the most of later-life opportunities. It contains advice on ‘encore careers’ (career changes), information about becoming a consultant in your existing industry, about buying a business, and about volunteering. It also features dozens of real-life experiences of older workers, tips for mature-age jobseekers from the professionals, and a rundown on the employment sectors predicted to boom in the near future, for those wishing to retrain.

The message is simple – you don’t need to retire just because you have hit some magical age. Life is long, and continuing to use your valuable skills and abilities into your later years will not only earn you money, but might just help keep you young, too.

Reviews of Extending Your Use-By Date

‘Extending Your Use-By Date is a clever, useful book that explores the idea that continuing to work as we slide into our 60s and beyond can keep us healthy, happy and contribute to our bank balance. Dr Darryl Dymock presents a guide to the next stage of life that’s inspiring, practical and a pleasure to read.’ Kerry Hannon, Job and Retirement Expert and author of Great Jobs for Everyone 50+

‘A cracker of an eBook. The case studies are really potent.’ Natasha Mitchell, Life Matters, ABC Radio National

‘A well-written eBook.’ Richard Stubbs, ABC Melbourne Afternoons

‘Having a book that confirms that a LOT of people are making the same choice I am is reassuring.’ Professor Karen Watkins, University of Georgia, US