The first generation of Baby Boomers is meant to retire this year but with many boomers being hit by the GFC, what are their retirement plans?

In a study conducted for The Financial Review’s Smart Investor, it was revealed that 46% of boomers still slaving away at work were doing so because of the economic downturn. Instead of retiring this year, 31% expect they will be hanging up their hats in five years time and about 33% the following year.

So how did the GFC actually impact boomers?  Twenty-eight percent were forced to sell investments while 18% had to pull back on their lifestyle. But while some had to cut back, it is important to note that this is the first generation in Australia to retire with Superannuation which was made compulsory in 1992. But it might have been just a little too late, with 78% of boomers making additional contributions to their super to make up for lost time. Read all…

Over the last two years, the Nielsen-Community Engine Social Media Business Benchmarking Study has confirmed the visible rise in Australian organisations that are employing social media in their marketing activity.

The inaugural study conducted in 2010, found that 70 per cent of all Australian businesses intended to conduct some form of social media activity last year, up from just 40 per cent in 2008.  This year, the study has demonstrated that social media programs have began to entrench their place in not only marketing programming, but budgeting. Nielsen said: “One of the major shifts this year was organisations increasing marketing budgets as opposed to last year when they reallocated it from traditional media. This year 44 percent of participating businesses expanded their marketing budgets to fund a social media strategy.”  This marks a significant shift from last year, where organisations were more likely to redeploy funding from traditional marketing budgets to fund social media activity. Read all…

In March 1851, German artist, naturalist and explorer Ludwig Becker arrived in Van Diemens Land, around Launceston. For many months he wandered the land, paying his way by painting miniatures. During this time, Becker painted the portraits of three Tasmanian Aboriginals, Naplomata (Henrietta), Dinudara (Sarah) and Kanjawerki, before heading to Victoria in search of gold.

A decade later, his rare combination of scientific knowledge and artistic ability saw him selected as a member of an exploring expedition, led by Robert O’Hara Burke. Keenly documenting and illustrating what he saw along the way, the slowing ailing Becker succumbed to scurvy and dysentery at the legendary Cooper Creek in 1861.

One hundred and fifty years later, the unknown portraits were brought back into the public spotlight. Consigned for sale to Sotheby’s Australia from a private collection in Finland, the portraits were part of a family heirloom collection traced back to the vendor’s grandmother, daughter of US anthropological film-maker Robert J Flaherty. It is unclear how the portraits made it out of Australia, or when exactly, although seeing as their existence was all but unknown until they were brought to auction, it is possible they were out of the country for over a century. Read all…

There are many commodities available to the investor, but at Ellis Jones, fine art gets our vote.

Be it painting or sculpture, contemporary or a work of heritage, art combines investment with cultural clout and ongoing personal enjoyment in a way no share, stock, bond or house could.

After the heady highs of 2007-8 gave way to the lows of the economic downturns of 2008-9, the market has seen investors returning in recent months. Prices have stabilised, and significant works are coming back onto the market at estimates far lower than sale prices at the height of the boom. Read all…

Lazy. Demanding. Disrespectful. Self-obsessed. Rude. These are just some of the words that are associated with Generation Y. We also spend all our money without considering the need for a savings account for a rainy day (or a house deposit), lack etiquette, spend all our time online instead of communicating person to person and expect not to have to work hard in life, but be given the same rewards as the generations before us. But is this actually an accurate description of Generation Y, or is it just how older generations view younger generations?

Take this quote for instance.

“I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on the frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words. When I was a boy, we were taught to be discreet and respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly wise and impatient of restraint.”

Read all…

An article entitled “Politician, heal thyself” appeared recently in The Economist. It has drawn a lot of attention to Australia’s politicians and their general lack of unison. The commentary sets the scene of today’s parliament. Living in an Australia with this political climate has lead us to develop our Shared Value Proposition.

Granted, the scope of our nation’s current issues are complex: carbon price, affordable housing, a ‘two speed economy’, natural disasters – to name a few. But there are always a range of challenges facing Australians; it’s how we deal with them that defines the strength, unity, confidence and future success of our community.

“The first striking feature of modern Australian politics is its inconstancy. The political parties cast off leaders the way Dame Edna Everage casts off frocks. Between 1989 and 1991 the Liberals had three leaders and Labor two. And though Mr Howard was in power for over ten years, in 1994-95 the Liberals again had three leaders, and another three in 2007-09. And so, in 2004-07, did Labor. Policies too can be changed, just as often and just as casually. Both the main parties have been for and against an emissions-trading system, the issue that most divides them today.”

Read all…

What’s the first thing that pops into your head when you hear the word ‘abuse’? Child abuse perhaps, or a woman being beaten up by her husband? What if someone was to say ‘elder abuse’? What kind of image does this evoke in your mind? An old lady being slapped by someone younger and stronger than herself?

The actual definition of elder abuse is “any act occurring within a relationship where there is an implication of trust, which results in harm to an older person. Abuse can include physical, sexual, financial, psychological and social abuse and/or neglect”.

The interesting aspect of this definition is the “implication of trust”. Fact is that most cases of elder abuse is at the hand of a family member.

Seniors Rights Victoria (SRV) is the primary, government-funded organisation for older Victorians seeking information and support relating to elder abuse. Between July and December 2010, there were 1,083 calls to the SRV helpline. Of these calls, 74% were related to elder abuse and 75% were calls from women.

Read all…

Since the introduction of email to the workplace, the line between the personal and professional has become increasingly blurred.  Not only does business communication have the ability to find you no matter how far you are from the office, but conversations that may have once been considered of a personal nature can now have significant repercussions to a consumer brand, an employee brand and potentially your employment contract.

This has been an ongoing concern for organisations and continues to develop in its complexity. As social media becomes increasingly prolific in our day-to-day lives and its search engines more powerful, the potential of a private comment being unearthed and evolving into a serious organisational or even legal issue becomes a  norm.

Read all…

Aged care providers should be careful what they wish for, writes Rhod Ellis-Jones.

We’re about one month away from the release of the Productivity Commission’s final ‘Caring for Older Australians’ report. The federal government has taken some early steps toward simplifying the system with Minister for Health and Ageing, Mark Butler, announcing a new national phone number will act as a single point of entry for people seeking aged care information and access. The sector is keen for more.

The question is: what are aged care providers doing to prepare for reform? Read all…

It has been lovely to see the work we have done with a number of our clients highlighted in both Anthill and Human Capital Magazine in recent weeks.  We are eternally grateful to work with clients who are excited by the possibilities of new ways to engage their audience and allow us to create some exciting outcomes together.

Myths and misconceptions about marketing to the ‘oldies’ – Anthill Online

Social network recruitment proves better in the long run – Human Capital Magazine