Did the AU Government just confirm Halftime?

The Australian Treasury yesterday confirmed much of what is in the book Halftime on aging and health after 50.

We want to live longer, just not get old. Yes to the first part; no to the second.

Every few years, the Australian Treasury publishes the Intergenerational Report (1), a 40-year look at where Australia is heading. The 2026 edition landed yesterday and runs to 352 pages. Many will only read the headlines about AI, energy and housing, but many, especially those over 50, might read a little more into the details around health and healthy aging.

I read it with one question in mind:

What does all this mean for men and women over 50 who want to stay capable, mobile and independent for as long as possible?

The answer I found is buried in Chapters 4, 8 and 12, and it's one that was familiar and which I wrote about in my book Halftime. That answer was:

We're living longer. We're not living better.

Australians have some of the longest lifespans on the planet, and they're still rising. Life expectancy is projected to reach 86.1 years for men and 89.5 for women by 2065–66. But here's what didn't make as much of the news. Treasury also measures healthy life expectancy, the years you live in full health, free of disability and chronic disease. 

First, lifespan: In 2015, men could expect 80.4 years, and women: 84.6 years. The revised estimates in the report show increases of around 7.1% and 5.8%, respectively, which is truly great. So life expectancy is up, and at a time when AI might kill us all with a 10% probability, I assume that's factored in? But that's another story. The report did in fact cover AI, just not the "it may kill us all" part.

OK, so if Healthspan is the years of lifespan spent healthy, in other words, free of disability from chronic disease, how are we faring? Well, not so great apparently; this number was 71.7 years for men and 73.8 years for women in 2024, and these numbers have decreased slightly. So we live longer; they are better at keeping us alive, but we may not be having as much fun as we thought we would. Keep in mind there is physical and, of course, mental decline, which can be different.

[FYI, our ReSET app includes a healthspan calculator that uses government data or your own inputs to work out your Healthspan and just how many summers you have left to make the most of.] 

Read that again. We've added years. We haven't added good years at the same rate. That extra time will increasingly be spent managing illness. So more of us will need more services from limited resources; costs will go up, more of us will be managing illnesses, and quality management will likely be scarce/expensive, so costs go up again. Are you financially prepared for all this, competing for home care, retirement villages, health care?

Or do you want to start taking corrective action now?

In Halftime, we cover this gap between lifespan and Healthspan. Now the Government seal on it.

The numbers that should worry every man over 50

• 61% of Australians live with at least one chronic condition, costing around $100 billion a year.
• The burden of disease has risen by almost 40% between 2003 and 2024.
• Chronic conditions now account for around 90% of all deaths
• And, pointedly, men experience higher rates of chronic disease and earlier death than women.

None of this happens suddenly. The damage-minus-repair equation after twenty years of running at a deficit, where damage from what some might call a life well-lived comes home with consequences. 

Aging = Damage - Repair

As they say in the classics, "The chickens will always come home to roost"; likewise, damage, and potentially the resulting chronic disease. As we age, our repair mechanisms don't work as well. The good news is that the same equation works in reverse.

Treasury's prescription: Prevention

Treasury says "a greater focus on preventative care will be needed," and names the modifiable risk factors directly:

1. Obesity
2. High alcohol use and smoking
3. Early detection of chronic disease

That's not a wellness influencer talking. That's the Commonwealth Treasury, in its flagship economic document, telling you the levers are in your hands.

The first two are also, nearly word for word, the first week of our ReSET in 30 Days App, just built specifically for men, and includes all the stats and data to support the "why?" 

You'll probably be working longer too.

Two more findings matter here:

1. First, the number of Australians aged 65 and over will almost double over the next 40 years, and the over-85s will triple, from 625,000 today to 1.9 million.
2. Second, participation for workers aged 65 and over is running around one percentage point higher than Treasury expected just three years ago. More of us are staying in work, by choice or necessity.

Put those together, and the question stops being "will I retire at 60?" and becomes "will I still be sharp, strong and useful at 70?" That's a capability question. And capability is built through muscle, sleep, metabolic health, not wished for. Maximise what is controllable.

What it means if you're an investor?

Some readers might ask what the report signals for their share portfolio, so here's a brief look. This is general information only, not financial advice, obviously.

The report points to several long-run structural themes:

• Ageing and care. Health spending is projected to reach 6.2% of GDP by 2065–66, up 2.2 percentage points from today.
• Demand for health, aged care and personal services is one of the report's most confident projections.
• AI infrastructure. Data centre investment in Australia has nearly doubled since 2023, with around $11.6 billion in 2025–26. No doubt more to come with Firmus in the wings.
• Household electrification. Australia leads in rooftop solar and batteries, and Treasury expects household energy costs to fall around 40% between 2030 and 2050 as homes electrify.
• Super is maturing. The median super balance for Australians aged 65–69 is projected to rise from $204,000 in 2024 to approach $450,000 in nominal terms.

These are 40-year structural trends, not predictions of what markets will do next year.

The one investment the report makes an unambiguous case for is your own Healthspan. A bigger super balance is worth less if you spend those years managing illness.

So what do you actually do?

Work the levers Treasury named, in the right order, and keep at it long enough for them to compound.

That's exactly why I built ReSET. It's a 30-day programme for men over 50, based on the science in the book Halftime, that combines both body systems and the proven "Hallmarks of Aging" to help prioritise actions. The App you use before you start to learn: start the basics in an ordered manner and then build habits to take forward- informed habits.

A topic a day, short enough to read with your coffee and specific enough to act on before lunch:

• Week 1 - Restoration: The fastest wins you'll feel within days.
• Week 2 - Deep Clean: Reducing the load on your body.
• Week 3 - Rebuilding: Muscle is your metabolism after 50.
• Week 4 - Routine: Habits that keep working after Day 30.

Check in on Days 1, 5, 12, 20, and 30 to track key factors, but no tech or additional wearables required. Your data stays on your phone. A summary report at the end lets you take it to your GP. You pay once, no subscription, no ads, no tracking.

Download ReSET on the App Store →