Here's the tension nobody's talking about: New Zealand is having a fierce debate about raising the retirement age to 67, while the data shows hundreds of thousands of people in their sixties have already made that decision for themselves.

In 2020, 2.3 million people aged 60-64 had taxable income. By 2024, that figure hit 2.6 million. That's an increase of nearly 300,000 income earners in just four years, in a five-year age bracket.

This isn't about baby boomers refusing to leave the workforce out of stubbornness. The numbers tell a different story: it's about mortgages that weren't paid off, KiwiSaver balances that fell short, and the simple arithmetic that says NZ Super at $27,000 a year for a single person doesn't cover rent in most cities.

The trajectory is relentless. Every year since 2000, the number of 60-64 year-olds with taxable income has climbed. Even through the Global Financial Crisis. Even through COVID. The line goes up and to the right, year after year, without exception.

What's striking is the acceleration. In the decade from 2010 to 2020, this age group added about 700,000 income earners. In just the four years since 2020, they've added another 300,000. The pace is quickening.

Some of this is demographics: the boomer bulge moving through the age bands. But demographics alone don't explain why nearly every person in this age group now has taxable income. In 2000, the figure was lower both in absolute terms and as a share of the age cohort.

The contrast is stark: politicians argue about whether 67 is too young or too old to retire, while actual New Zealanders in their early sixties are working regardless. The policy debate feels increasingly disconnected from what's already happening on the ground.

This is the new normal. The idea of stopping work at 60, or even 65, is becoming a relic. Not because the retirement age changed, but because the economic reality did. The mortgage took longer to pay off. The investment property didn't materialise. The Super payment doesn't stretch as far as it used to.

And so, nearly 2.6 million people aged 60-64 keep earning. The retirement age debate is academic. The decision has already been made, one income earner at a time. (Source: Stats NZ, taxable-income-sources)