Almost 45 per cent of the baby boomer generation said they will have to postpone retirement due to the global financial crisis, a study by global market information and insight group TNS has revealed.
According to findings, 71 per cent said they would have to cut back on spending over the next 12 months, while 52 per cent said they were unlikely to be able to save any money at all in the year ahead.
"The hit that their super funds have taken in the global financial crisis has really shaken up baby boomers, many of whom have now seriously started to reconsider their retirement plans," TNS finance director John Shearer said.
Almost 60 per cent of Australian baby boomers believed Australian shares would get worse rather than better over the next six months, with 69 per cent predicting the same for the global stock markets.
Forty per cent of baby boomers said they were contemplating working more in order to increase their incomes over the next 12 months, despite the 27 per cent who feared their jobs could be at risk.
"With the under-employed seeking to work more and baby boomers seeking to stay in the workforce longer, this is going to make conditions even tougher for those who do find themselves out of work as the economic crisis unfolds," Shearer said.
According to the TNS Financial Crisis Study the amount of baby boomers planning to delay retirement in other countries was lower, with Germany at 13 per cent, the UK at 23 per cent, France at 28 per cent and the US at 40 per cent.
