UTOPIA RETIREMENT RESORT

Our retirement years are the final stage of our lives, and as such, deserve to be celebrated after successfully navigating the trials of youth, marriage, family, and career. It's time to bask in the sunshine of our accomplishments, spoil the grandkids rotten, and indulge in every little joy that floats our retirement boat.

Yet, many of us find ourselves in these colossal family homes, brimming with memories but becoming too much to look after. Yet, we stay put, secretly dreading the day when we can no longer dodge household chores and must surrender to the embrace of a nursing home. Unfortunately, our options are limited. To be honest, there aren't many nicer places to move to.

But what if, in a magical twist of fate, retirees had more exciting options than just clinging to oversized nests or reluctantly nestling into nursing homes? What if there existed a retirement utopiua where the hardest decision of your day is whether to sip a piña colada by the pool or hit up the morning tai chi class? What if retirement meant living it up in a resort-style paradise straight out of your Bali daydreams instead of worrying about garden maintenance?

Luxury resort-style retirement villages incorporating state-of-the-art nursing homes would solve real-world problems too. House prices have recently risen dramatically, and so have rental costs. We know that there is a severe shortage of dwellings and available rentals in Australia. What if we could free up some houses by giving retirees an attractive alternative option for enjoying their retirement years? Retirees could enjoy a luxurious twenty or so years living their dream life without even having to leave home.

And let's not forget the food—thanks to Maggie Beer’s crusade on the ABC "Maggie Beer's Big Mission" where she has resolved to fight for changes to be made to the quality of food provided in nursing homes—even the nursing home section of our resort could offer gourmet delights. There could be several restaurants within the resort so that residents could choose what kind of food they wanted if they chose not to cook at home. And all their leisure activities, exercise and recreation could also be taken care of within the resort.

Let's face it, travel in your eighties is hard work—long uncomfortable flights, airport congestion, stairs, luggage, no travel insurance, etc etc. So, if you are living the dream in your retirement resort, you don't need to go on holiday because you are always on holiday. The government could even subsidise these resorts because if more boomer houses are on the market, houses could become more affordable for younger buyers and the need for government housing would not be so great.

People often dream about this kind of luxury living. That is usually why they go on holiday. An added bonus of this sort of community lifestyle is the camaraderie and friendships made, a community where loneliness evaporates faster than sunscreen in the tropics. Imagine the friendships formed over morning yoga classes and sunset dinners—a true antidote to the isolation that can haunt later years.

So, as Australia faces both an aging population and a housing shortage, why not rethink retirement living? Let's flip the script on the traditional "golden years" and script a future where life's greatest adventure begins anew every morning. Because in the end, retirement isn't just a milestone; it's a standing ovation for a life well-lived. Cheers to that!