Georgina Sekone-Fraser says she has always made sure she is working and is now looking forward to retirement. Photo / Bevan Conley
Georgina Sekone-Fraser is gleeful about the prospect of retiring next year.
"I planned this retirement when I was in my teens."
The 64-year-old, who works at the Trafalgar Square Lotto shop, said she has always had a job.
Whether as a butchery assistant in Australia or at New World in Whanganui, her constant employment had given her the confidence a job was never far away.
"There was no reason for me to stay home and not to work."
A renter, Sekone-Fraser said she had always saved her money and kept her expenses low, which had been key to being ready to retire.
"Now I am reaching my retirement it's like, 'yes, I can retire and do whatever I want, look after myself - I can go to Auckland and visit my family, and not have to rush back because I've got to work the next day'."
At the end of last month the Government released a new action plan to support older people in the workforce.
Older workers make up about a third of the New Zealand workforce and almost half of all New Zealanders aged 65 to 69 are employed, Minister for Seniors Dr Ayesha Verrall said.
"But we know that older workers can face unique and complex challenges in finding and staying in paid employment. Whether that's being made redundant and struggling to find a new job or having limited options when they do look for work."
The Older Workers Employment Action Plan will focus on ways of keeping people aged 50 and upwards in a job.
It will also aim to support employers to be more inclusive of older people, as well as how to plan for an aging workforce.
Whanganui resident Mike de Vries, 56, has just been made redundant and said looking for a job was humbling.
He has almost 40 years of forklift driving under his belt and at a recent job interview was told the pay was minimum wage. He said "no thanks" and walked away.
"If it's a skill like being a forklift operator [...] and for someone to take advantage of that... I'd rather just go on a benefit," he said.
"Once I'm in there at minimum wage, I'm stuck there at that. It sounds selfish - but I've been driving forklifts for 38 years."
There was anxiety when applying for jobs at his age (less than 10 years from 65) de Vries said.
"It's disheartening and it's downing. You're older now and people don't want an older worker."
He said he also had trouble with CVs and job applications going online, meaning he was not able to visit a potential employer and give a good first impression.
Another issue de Vries said he faced was his body breaking down and not being able to do jobs that required a lot of physical work.
"I've never had a high-end job.
"I've been working hard, had hard jobs - the body's catching up on that nowadays. I'm having a few problems."
He said his ideal job would be working in a dairy factory as a forklift driver - something he had done previously.
The pay and conditions were usually pretty good, de Vries said.
With retirement around the corner de Vries fully expected to be working past 65, but he was not letting that get him down.
"I don't work myself up. Some people do.
"Me, if it's out of my control, I don't get anxious about it. If you can't control it [...] you just accept it and do your best to rectify it."
Wellbeing Aotearoa psychologist Dr Kristen Hamling said people who were made redundant from a job they might have done for a long time needed to tread carefully.
"Some people will take a redundancy as 'oh well I didn't really plan this but here it is, let's start problem-solving' and see it as an opportunity.
"Others who don't like change - it will be very traumatic for them."
Those people needed to respect the stress and trauma they were going through in losing a job.
"Especially if it's something you don't want," she said.
"It's actually really quite traumatic and stressful for some people and they have to go through some grieving, they need care and support."
A big issue Hamling noticed with people who had been in a job for a long time was over-identifying with a career and becoming a bit lost if it came to an end.
Some of the unhappiest career people she had met were police officers who followed the path to becoming a detective.
"They're miserable because they don't like it."
It wasn't just in police or other first responder jobs, an area she had studied extensively - if people over-identified with any one thing in life it could be really dangerous.
"Some of these things can stop at any moment.
"What happens if you have a shitty day at work? What happens if the work is no longer there?"
For people in the age bracket approaching retirement, it is crucial to be resilient and have more about you, Hamling said.
"Try different hobbies, maybe try and volunteer in different organisations.
"[Those] ways to meet different people give you a way of preparing for retirement."
Financial planning and having good social connections is crucial to approaching retirement with some sense of comfort, Grey Power Wanganui president Ross Fallen said.
"I say to everybody heading to retirement, for heaven's sake, make sure you are socially connected before you retire so the transition is not as abrupt.
"Because everyone tells me that when you go off the cliff, it's a bit of a shock."
Social engagement is vital for people approaching retirement, Fallen said, and there were all sorts of options, from volunteering to joining a sports club.
"As long as you are connecting with people on some level - doing something you enjoy with like-minded people - then you are going to get that kind of external family reinforcement."
People with decades to go before retirement should make sure they were contributing to their KiwiSaver, Fallen said.
"Start doing your financial stuff in your 30s so you don't have to deal with it in your 50s or 60s when you're made redundant or your career's coming to an end and you've got nowhere to go financially.
"If you've got financial stability it's a lot easier to figure out what you want to do with your life."
For those in de Vries' position, going out and applying for jobs when you were older could become tough, Fallen said.
"Resiliency is an attribute not many of us have - to bounce back.
"You only need four or five rejections before you form the view you're too old and you're not wanted."
Fallen wants employers to say age is no barrier to people getting jobs with them.
"Outside the packaging might look a little bit wrinkly - the brain's no different. The wisdom's there, the knowledge is there, the experience is there."
According the Older Workers Employment Action Plan, workers aged between 50 and 64 years old took longer to get a new job if they were made redundant and made up 40 per cent of the people receiving long-term jobseeker support.
Where to get help
If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
For counselling and support:
Lifeline: Call 0800 543 354 or text 4357 (HELP)
Suicide Crisis Helpline: Call 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO)
Need to talk? Call or text 1737
Depression helpline: Call 0800 111 757 or text 4202
For children and young people:
Youthline: Call 0800 376 633 or text 234
What's Up: Call 0800 942 8787 (11am to 11pm) or webchat (11am to 10.30pm)
The Lowdown: Text 5626 or webchat
For help with specific issues:
Alcohol and Drug Helpline: Call 0800 787 797
Anxiety Helpline: Call 0800 269 4389 (0800 ANXIETY)
OutLine: Call 0800 688 5463 (0800 OUTLINE) (6pm-9pm)
Safe to talk (sexual harm): Call 0800 044 334 or text 4334
All services are free and available 24/7 unless otherwise specified.
For more information and support, talk to your local doctor, hauora, community mental health team, or counselling service.
