How 78-year-old Shirley is proving that retirement is better with friends

After decades of busy working life, retirement can bring new freedoms and unexpected quiet. For many Australians, the difference lies in the people around them. Through neighbours, shared interests and everyday moments together, the right community can shape a richer, more connected chapter.

Shirley Miranda, 78

Retired from: Teaching primary school
Lives: Frank Vickery Village in Sylvania, NSW]

For Shirley, being around other people is what makes life fulfilling. When she worked as a school teacher and volunteered with a local theatre group, “my life seemed to be full of activities. Then I retired in 2002 and I also left the theatre and I was just sitting at home. I didn’t realise that I was lonely.”

Moving into Frank Vickery Village in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire four years ago changed that. Today Shirley has found a renewed love of life in a place where neighbours quickly become friends. She loves her “beautiful one-bedder with the nicest kitchen I’ve ever had”, but most of all she enjoys living in a vibrant community.

From morning coffee catch-ups to board games and regular bus trips, Shirley enjoys it all. “I have a purpose again and I’m with friends.” She also enjoys bringing people together, organising events for the Village Games and encouraging others to join in. “It’s the school teacher in me; I can’t help it,” she laughs.

Rex Hobson, 84

Retired from: Farming and truck driving
Lives: Kerang, Victoria

Rex has always been social and active, and retirement has only expanded the communities he’s part of. When he was younger, he played tennis competitively, but these days ballroom dancing is his main focus, a hobby he first took up at 14. He now dances four days a week, leading classes across Victoria. His dance partner, Trish, is a qualified ballroom teacher and Rex can more than keep up.

“At 84, I’m the best I’ve ever been,” he says. “We do up to 400 different dance sequences a month. It’s great for the memory.”

Dancing also keeps Rex connected to communities across the eastern states, from Cairns to country Victoria. “We’ve made friends in every area we run classes in,” he says.

“It’s lovely. We all have supper together at the dance, and sometimes go out to restaurants together at the end of a weekend event.”

For Rex, those friendships are golden. After years spent farming, Rex says he is now in “the peak of my life. My life is just as busy now as it’s ever been, but the farming’s been replaced by friendships and socials. It’s more exciting.”

Bill, 84, and Maree Daley, 83

Retired from: Academia (Bill) and office management (Maree)
Live: Alan Walker Village in Carlingford, NSW

“We’re not ones for chopping and changing,” laughs Maree about the family home in North Epping where she and husband Bill lived for almost 60 years. But when the time came to make a lifestyle change three years ago, it was important they stayed connected to the area and community they love.

Alan Walker Village in Carlingford allows them to do exactly that. Maree still pops over to walk their Jack Russell cross, who now lives with their daughter, while Bill meets friends in North Epping for bowls.

They’ve also found a welcoming community in the village itself. Activities such as snooker, card games, chair yoga and weekly bus trips give residents plenty of opportunities to meet and spend time together. “You don’t have to go very far if you want to have a chat with someone,” says Maree. “Everyone you talk to always says how glad we are that we all live here.”

How Australians are ageing

It’s these types of experiences that reflect a broader shift in how Australians are thinking about retirement. Australians are living longer, redefining retirement and rethinking where they live. One in six Australians is now aged 65 or over, a figure projected to rise to around 21-23 per cent by 2066. At the same time, around one in five older Australians experience social isolation, highlighting how connection and community can be just as important as housing design when planning the next stage of life.

At Wesley Mission’s retirement villages across Sydney, a community-first approach is supported by 24/7 on-site resident support and access to specialised mental-health and wellbeing services.

For more information, call 1800 931 107 or visit wesleymission.org.au.