It’s that time of year when our screens and magazines are filled with ads for weight loss, but do boot camps and diet fads really lead to a happier retirement? ANGELA BENSTED investigates.

Pin money, pocket money, cruise money – call it what you will, but when you’re on a fixed income, a few extra bob in the bank is always welcome and, writes ANGELA BENSTED, you don’t have to sacrifice freedom to get it.

When 81-year-old Cliff said a final goodbye to his wife Mary Patricia (Pat) he planned every aspect of the event himself with meticulous attention to detail.

If you’re reading this with a chardonnay in your hand or a nip of scotch doing duty before dinner then you’re a typical Baby Boomer. You love a drink and you have one nearly every day, a legacy of how you grew up in the booze-soaked 1960s and ’70s.

There’s a clipped pooch standing guard on a Brisbane verandah in the fading winter light.
Actually the dog is sitting down on the job, performing its security duties from a comfortable chair.

In a cruel twist of fate, family fortunes, earned through graft and sacrifice, are being whittled away by warring children and scheming hangers-on.

The TV commercial shows a man and a woman driving in a red convertible, smiling and  windswept, then zooms wide to reveal they’re behind glass as part of a museum exhibit.

A young boy looking on turns a puzzled face to his grandfather, who wears a crumpled suit and a hangdog look, seeking an explanation.

“It’s called retirement son. They used to have it when I was a boy.”