Why are so many retirees still spending like it’s 1991?
Their super is well above the national average, and they own their own home.They could be comfortable, but instead, they’re living like it’s 1991, back in the recession we had to have. They’re skipping the trip to see their grandkids overseas, patching up a car that could have been replaced years ago, and turning the heating down a notch every winter to protect a super balance they will almost certainly never spend.Nobody ever really showed us how to save – they did it for us. So nobody has ever shown us how to spend, either.Getty ImagesThat’s not a rare story.
- ▪Their super is well above the national average, and they own their own home.They could be comfortable, but instead, they’re living like it’s 1991, back in the recession we had to have.
- ▪They’re skipping the trip to see their grandkids overseas, patching up a car that could have been replaced years ago, and turning the heating down a notch every winter to protect a super balance they will almost certainly never spend.Nobody
- ▪So nobody has ever shown us how to spend, either.Getty ImagesThat’s not a rare story.
Sydney Morning Herald publishes from Australia and files mainly under world. We currently carry 3,195 of its stories.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","dateModified":"2026-07-24T19:01:00Z","datePublished":"2026-07-24T19:01:00Z","description":"The success of super has created a new retirement problem we don’t discuss enough – people don’t know how to manage their money so they can confidently spend.","headline":"Why are so many retirees still spending like it’s 1991?","keywords":"Retirement living, Just in, Opinion","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Bec Wilson","jobTitle":"Money…
Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at The Sydney Morning Herald.