MARK BARNES: Now is the time to prepare for a better future
The age of job security is over and entrepreneurs need to jump into action
Though there are far too many complex variables to allow for generalisations, I’m going to make one anyway. We’re going to live longer than we used to. If you’re 65 now and reading this newspaper, you’ve got a more than 50% chance of living beyond 80. This has huge implications for the economics of life after work, particularly if you don’t want to be a burden on the state or your children.
Even if you don’t mind being such a burden, the prospects of getting a social grant you can live off or being looked after by your offspring are pretty bleak. This is so as far as the financial state of the state is concerned and the fact that there are hardly any jobs for your kids to support themselves, let alone look after grumpy, old, expensively medicated you. At 74% we have the highest youth unemployment rate in the world — don’t even think of moving in with them, they’ve probably only just moved out of your house...
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