OverSixty July 2023 Digital

ISSUE 5 | JULY 2023 | OVERSIXTY.COM.AU 16 YOURMONEY “It’s not so much about gardening, it’s really my memoir... and a lot about compost! As I work in the garden and a pumpkin or a cabbage, for example, might remind me of an event in my life, I write about it. Because I have lived such an eventful and long life, there are lot of stories that my reader will !nd most interesting. I also give my old tried and tested recipes using my garden produce. You should try the pumpkin scones, for example! And I weave a little love story through it all.” Although she admits she gets tiredmore easily, Doreen is still working around her house and garden, and has regular visi- tors. She says her secret is to remain inter- esting, and interested in other people. Even a stint in hospital in 2022 with a back problem hasn’t slowed her down. She discharged herself early and has spent the next year trying to regain her former level of physical activity. “You must keep moving. I’ve still got gardening books I want to sell and I will perhaps get around to doing some guest speaking. "at’s what I’m good at and that’s what sells books. "en I’m going to bring out a book of short stories and poems. It wouldn’t be a best seller – it’s sex that sells – but I do not wish to be boring,” she says. Doreen’s books are available on her website www.sexinyourseventies.com HELEN SIGNY YOUR MONEY T he average age of retirement in Aus- tralia has been climbing steadily for the last 20 years, and soon it will be nor- mal for us to retire well into our seventies. For Doreen Wendt-Weir, that was when her amazing new career began. In their nineties, most people would be content to spend their days pottering around their garden. But at 95, Doreen Wendt-Weir has turned her horticultural musings into a book and is on the public- ity circuit. Gardening in your Nineties, the sequel to Sex in Your Seventies is Doreen’s fourth publication. When she was 78, in 2006, her third book Sex in Your Seventies was published… and changed her life. “After it was published, I became a person instead of being just an old lady – which incidentally I never, ever felt,” says Doreen of the reaction to her book, which launched her public speaking and televi- sion career. “When I was onTVpeople looked atme with new eyes. I didn’t go around looking like an old lady, I was !t and went danc- ing and had my man in my life. I was get- ting requests from all over the world for my opinion on this or that, and the com- munity started to viewme di#erently.” Born in 1928 to a dairy farmer on the Logan River, Doreen always aspired to !e write stu" for a late blooming career becoming a journalist. But the Second World War intervened and she was taken out of high school to become, at 16, a li- brarian for the US army. She went on to become a nurse and midwife, spent time overseas, then returned to Australia to marry and have four children. Finding herself alone at 65, she was by then an artist, and established an art gallery and studio on Tamborine Moun- tain. Six years later, at 71, she was making beads one day and wondered – “Could I have donemore?” She enrolled at Gri$th University in a Bachelor of Arts course, majoring in Creative Writing and Indige- nous Studies. It was while she was com- pleting her BA Honours degree that one of her tutors suggested she should write a book about sex for the older person. “I was in a loving relationship and knew I could write, as I’d already written Barefoot in Logan Village , (an anecdo- tal and oral history of the Logan Village district) and it seemed like something I could do after completing my Honours degree. So that’s what I did.” "e book became a sensation, despite some disapproval from her family and friends over its title. “But if you read it, you would !nd out there is nothing smutty in it at all,” she says. “It’s not a how-to book, but it is a bit spicy; it’s about relationships really and the e#ect sex has on them.” Fast forward to the Covid-19 pandemic, and Doreen, now well into her nineties, was isolating on her Queensland proper- ty and tending her garden. Her daughter suggested she should write another book to pass the time. "e resulting self-pub- lished work was released last year and became book title of the week in !e Aus- tralian newspaper. Doreen Wendt-Weir has lived an eventful life, but it wasn’t until she took up writing in her 70s that she found her true calling Photos: Andrew Nagy !e information contained herein is of a general nature only and does not constitute personal advice. You should not act on any recommendation without considering your personal needs, circumstances, and objectives. We recommend you obtain professional "nancial advice speci"c to your circumstances. YOUR MONEY Enrolling in university at the age of 71, Doreen Wendt-Weir had no idea of the incredible career road that lay ahead INVESTMENT CHOICES Take time to understand the advantages and disadvantages related to your invest- ment choices and determine the level of risk you are prepared to accept. To illus- trate the importance of risk pro!ling, a re- tiree whose investments are conservative, drawing a 5% pension with 6% earnings and 7% risk, will drawdown their invest- ment balance within 30 years. However, a retiree willing to take on more risk, say up to 11%, whilst drawing the same 5% pen- sion but with an increase in earnings up to 7% will increase their balance drawdown period to 40 years. AVOID FINANCIAL TRAPS Unless you are extremely wealthy, don’t give away your retirement money as gifts to your children or anyone else. "ere are Centrelink Age Pension rules that do not prevent a person from making a gift, but cap the amount bywhich a gift will reduce a person’s assessable income and assets, thereby increasing social security entitle- ments. A person or a couple can dispose of assets of up to $10,000 each !nancial year to a maximum of $30,000 spread over 5 years. "is $10,000 limit applies to a single person or to the combined amounts gifted by a couple. "e $10,000 and $30,000 limits apply together, mean- ing that assets can be gifted up to $10,000 in a !nancial year without penalty, but without exceeding the gifting free limit of $30,000 in a rolling !ve-year period. If the gifting rules are breached, the amount in excess of the gifting limit is considered a deprived asset of the person and/or their spouse. "e gift remains an assessable asset for !ve anniversary years from the date of gifting, and subjected to deeming under the income test. Conserve the ‘golden cash’ of your tax free retirement money – it’s not an ATM! As a rule of thumb, do not spend more than the amount that your portfolio or in- vestments generate annually. If an investment o#er sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Similarly, do not invest in anything o#ered by !nance sales people that you don’t understand. ESTATE PLANNING "is is a very important part of a person’s !nancial a#airs and often overlooked. Part of any good retirement plan is to allow for contingencies if things go wrong. Making provision for a valid will, establishing En- during powers of attorney/guardianship, and nominating binding death nomina- tions for your superannuation can facili- tate a smooth transition of your a#airs in the event of incapacity or death. CONCLUSION Make health, happiness, and lifestyle se- curity your benchmarks in retirement. Look upon retirement as the next ‘adven- ture’ in your life. Don’t be afraid to seek professional advice in achieving lifestyle security, especially if you are not prepared to select andmonitor your investments. Ô Retirement funds – howmuch is enough? Continued from page 15