In 2009 the Labor government announced the qualifying age would rise by .5 of a year from 2017 and then .5 a year until the age of 67 was reached in 2023. Those changes would apply only to people born after 1952.

Those like me who were born immediately after World War II are known as the Baby Boomers. Many of us have joined the ranks of retirees and many are close to doing so.

Our parents retired at 65, 60 or thereabouts, and that was part of the culture. Many of us planned our lives to retire around that age.

But many things have changed: we eat better, value exercise and recognise the dangers of such things as cigarettes. So pension ages set in 1908 have little relevance today.

Even with Labor’s changes, pension ages are hardly a reflection of modern life expectancy. It is often said a girl born today could live to 100 with males not far behind.

My primary concern — and here I’m wearing my hat as chairman of beyondblue — is that many men, in particular, who have retired at 60 or 65 have become bored, ill, turned to alcohol or are living dysfunctional lives. Some have returned to work because they have recognised retirement is not all it is cracked up to be.

In short, for many men retirement is equated with death. Stop working and life for many is without purpose.

I am not saying a person should keep working five or more days a week but one needs to remain mentally and physically active for as long as possible. An individual might retire from full-time work at 60 or 65. But that should be replaced by perhaps two or three days a week for income, one day a week for a community organisation, one day a week playing sport and one day a week gardening or doing something such as helping with the grandchildren.

Such activity helps keep the mind alert and the body healthy.

We must resist withdrawing into “retirement” because that can stop you being involved in life.

THERE’S nothing as boring as someone whose focus has narrowed to just themselves; those retirees who, when you ask them how they are, actually tell you about their urinary tract infection, their bad back or aching knees.

I would abolish all concepts of a retirement age and encourage people to be active until they drop, or ill-health genuinely stops them from being active.

As long as we have a pension age of 65 or even 67, we have a culture that prepares us to retire. For so many it is the start of reducing the quality of their lives.

We must change that culture. I consider 66 to be midlife, not the start of the end of my life. I work as hard and as long hours as I did 40 years ago.

Maybe I am fortunate, but I work at staying fit and relevant.

I noticed the other day when buying timber at Bunnings I could not carry the same weights I used to, regardless of the exercise I do to stay fit, so we do have to adjust. But I was strong enough to walk the Kokoda Track again with friends a few weeks ago.

Lifting the pension age will encourage us to live healthier longer. But it would also reduce the financial impact on the Budget. It recognises that we should be taking greater responsibility for our own lives for longer.

There will always be those who through no fault of their own need government assistance and I strongly support their right to live their lives with dignity and compassion.

It is for the same reason I support means testing pensions and reviewing every few years for a whole range of reasons. Those in real need will be looked after. But those who abuse the system should be identified and their benefits removed or reduced.

We Baby Boomers have nothing to fear. The increase in the pension age is a sign we are going to live longer, to see more of our grandchildren and our football teams (well done, Geelong).

What is important is the quality of those extra 20 or 30 years, and that is up to us.

Work on, be happy and healthy, and …

Have a good day.

Jeff Kennett is a former premier of Victoria