From RNZ<\/strong>\n \"Groceries, power and petrol, which I guess are all the obvious ones.\"\n \n\tHe said he had other income streams as well as receiving NZ Super, which meant his household was more able to absorb the increases, but he\n\tcould see why many could not. \"I was really aware when doing supermarket shopping recently how much things had risen in cost.\"\n\n \n\tHe said, if his circumstances were different, he probably would have been looking to return to the workforce – if he could find a job.\n\n \n\tData from Stats NZ this week showed he isn't the only one feeling the pressure. Superannuitant households had the highest annual\n\tinflation rate<\/a> of\n\tany household type, up 4.5% over a year, compared to 3.7% for beneficiaries and 3.2% for all households.\n\n \n\tWestpac chief economist Kelly Eckhold said electricity, up 12%, and rates up 8.8%, were big drivers of the increase for pensioner\n\thouseholds. Petrol was also a factor.\n",
"post_icon": "https:\/\/www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz\/media\/website_posts\/459\/Screenshot-2026-07-31-110229.png",
"post_content_type": "url",
"post_content_url": "https:\/\/www.1news.co.nz\/2026\/07\/30\/why-pensioner-households-experienced-the-fastest-inflation\/",
"post_date": "2026-07-30 23:08:57"
},
{
"post_id": "458",
"post_category_id": "1",
"post_title": "A sports professor on five of the biggest myths about exercise and ageing",
"post_content_short": "As people around the world seek to live longer, healthier lives, the global longevity and wellness market has topped US$2.5 trillion. Yet\n\tresearch shows that one of the best things we can do to remain fitter and healthier for longer isn’t to drop dollars on expensive longevity\n\ttreatments or supplements; it’s to exercise.\n\n
\n\t<\/a><\/strong>\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n\tResearch shows that those who exercise regularly are less likely to succumb to premature death, and reduce their risk of developing\n\tconditions such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis and mental health disorders. They’re also more likely to be able to keep\n\tdoing the things they love - from hiking and hefting heavy objects to gardening and playing with the grandkids - for longer.\n\n
Sport physiologist and AUT professor Andrew Kilding helps debunk some of the most common myths surrounding exercise and ageing.",
"post_icon": "https:\/\/www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz\/media\/website_posts\/458\/Screenshot-2026-07-30-150318.png",
"post_content_type": "url",
"post_content_url": "https:\/\/www.stuff.co.nz\/health\/361011606\/sports-professor-five-biggest-myths-about-exercise-and-ageing",
"post_date": "2026-07-30 03:06:19"
},
{
"post_id": "457",
"post_category_id": "1",
"post_title": "New residence rules for migrants' parents around the corner",
"post_content_short": "From RNZ:<\/strong> *Correction: This story has been updated to clarify comments by the minister<\/em>\n
\n\tThe government is set to make clear the future of residence\n\toptions for parents of migrant New Zealanders<\/a>.\n\n
\n\tThe review of\n\tparent category resident visas<\/a> was\n\tdue to report back earlier this year.\n\n
A spokesperson for immigration minister Erica Stanford said an announcement was expected by the end of next month.\n
Any changes are expected to centre around the ballot system which picks who can apply for the visas, which are capped at 2500 a year.\n
\n\tLatest INZ figures showed 12,000 people had submitted an expression of interest in the previous two years and about half of them were\n\tcouples.\n\n
\n\tCritics say the 'lucky draw' process is unfair for those who have waited many years to bring their parents to New Zealand, and want\n\tapplications dealt with chronologically.\n\n
\n\tSome also want changes to income requirements for family sponsors, who are New Zealand citizens or residents, which is currently set to\n\tsupport one parent ($109,200 a year) and at least $145,600 a year for two.\n\n
It reopened in 2022 under new rules and the visa now costs $5810.",
"post_icon": "https:\/\/www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz\/media\/website_posts\/457\/Screenshot-2026-07-28-134612.png",
"post_content_type": "url",
"post_content_url": "https:\/\/www.rnz.co.nz\/news\/politics\/773561\/new-residence-rules-for-migrants-parents-around-the-corner",
"post_date": "2026-07-28 01:47:50"
},
{
"post_id": "456",
"post_category_id": "1",
"post_title": "Social Connection Reduces Dementia Risk – And Thousands Of New Zealanders Are Already Doing Something About It",
"post_content_short": "From Scoop:<\/strong> Probus responds to WHO dementia prevention report, calling on older New Zealanders to act now\n
\n\tAs the World Health Organization releases new guidelines identifying social isolation as one of the leading modifiable risk factors for\n\tdementia, one of New Zealand’s largest social network for retirees and semi-retirees is calling the findings a wake-up call – and a clear\n\tcall to action.\n\n
\n\tProbus in New Zealand, which brings thousands of members together across the country, says the WHO report reinforces what it has known for\n\t50 years: staying socially connected isn’t a nice-to-have in retirement. It’s a health imperative.\n",
"post_icon": "https:\/\/www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz\/media\/website_posts\/456\/Screenshot-2026-07-28-124722.png",
"post_content_type": "url",
"post_content_url": "https:\/\/community.scoop.co.nz\/2026\/07\/social-connection-reduces-dementia-risk-and-thousands-of-new-zealanders-are-already-doing-something-about-it\/",
"post_date": "2026-07-28 00:50:44"
},
{
"post_id": "455",
"post_category_id": "1",
"post_title": "Older people facing impossible choices as cost of living continues to bite",
"post_content_short": "Age Concern Auckland says<\/strong> older people are facing impossible choices as the surging cost of living crisis continues to\n\tbite.\n\n
\n\tAnnual inflation had risen\n\tto 4.1 percent<\/a>,\n\tthe highest level in more than two years.\n\n
Power prices were up 12 percent annually and rates increased by 8.8 percent.\n
Age Concern Auckland's chief executive Kevin Lamb said a lot of older people were existing on superannuation alone.\n
\n\t\"These latest increases<\/a>, and\n\tparticularly at this time of year, when they're having to make those awful decisions of whether or not to heat their home or go and buy\n\tgroceries, they are now living almost beyond their means where they simply can't make ends meet,\" he said.\n\n
Lamb said that, in the past year, Age Concern Auckland had seen a 20 to 30 percent increase in calls for help.\n
\n\t\"We're dealing with potentially vulnerable older people who don't have support networks around them, they don't have a family to support\n\tthem, they're living in loneliness and isolation,\" he said.\n",
"post_icon": "https:\/\/www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz\/media\/website_posts\/455\/Screenshot-2026-07-23-175206.png",
"post_content_type": "url",
"post_content_url": "https:\/\/www.rnz.co.nz\/news\/business\/763333\/older-people-facing-impossible-choices-as-cost-of-living-continues-to-bite",
"post_date": "2026-07-23 05:54:01"
},
{
"post_id": "454",
"post_category_id": "1",
"post_title": "Sir Anthony Hopkins to release debut album inspired by his childhood",
"post_content_short": "This from BBC<\/strong>: Sir Anthony Hopkins will release his first album next month featuring a collection of classical pieces he\n\thas worked on for six decades.\n\n
The Oscar-winning actor said he had been composing music \"all my life\", and that \"music was my first desire, my first wish\".\n
\n\tThe first single from the 88-year-old's album, titled Life Is A Dream, was released on Friday, and was inspired by his childhood memories of\n\tMargam in south Wales.\n\n
\n\tThe Port Talbot-born star, who won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, has written\n\this own music since childhood, and began playing the piano at the age of four.\n",
"post_icon": "https:\/\/www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz\/media\/website_posts\/454\/Screenshot-2026-07-13-094802.png",
"post_content_type": "url",
"post_content_url": "https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cn4d5kg05d1o",
"post_date": "2026-07-12 21:56:23"
},
{
"post_id": "453",
"post_category_id": "1",
"post_title": "Yale study finds many over-65s grow stronger and sharper with age",
"post_content_short": "Instead of going downhill with age, what if you could actually improve your cognitive function and physical capabilities?\n
\n\tAstronomer Galileo Galilei, often called the “father of modern science”, completed his final masterpiece on the laws of motion while nearly\n\tblind, under house arrest and over 70.\n\n
Swimmer Diana Nyad swam 177km from Cuba to Florida when she was 64, after failing multiple times earlier in life.\n
Painter Joseph Turner produced some of his most ground-breaking and enduring works in his 60s.\n
If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then new research shows healthy ageing could be in the mind.",
"post_icon": "https:\/\/www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz\/media\/website_posts\/453\/Screenshot-2026-07-09-170031.png",
"post_content_type": "url",
"post_content_url": "https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/lifestyle\/yale-study-finds-many-over-65s-grow-stronger-and-sharper-with-age\/455BO2SBIZCRDA7JFI3HRJTOL4\/",
"post_date": "2026-07-09 05:05:33"
},
{
"post_id": "452",
"post_category_id": "1",
"post_title": "Les Mills, former Auckland mayor and fitness pioneer, dies at 91",
"post_content_short": "From one news:<\/strong> Les Mills, four-time Olympian, Commonwealth Games gold medallist, former Auckland mayor and founder of a\n\tfitness empire, has died. He was 91.\n\n
\n\tIn a statement posted to Instagram, the Mills family confirmed his death, describing him as \"an absolute legend\" and \"a Kiwi icon who blazed\n\ta trail in sport, business, politics and life\".\n\n
\n\t\"He laid the foundations for a movement that has inspired millions around the world to fall in love with fitness – a legacy that lives on in\n\tevery workout.\"\n\n
\n\tLeslie Roy Mills MBE, CNZM was born in Auckland on November 1, 1934. The death of his father led him to find solace in fitness and he grew\n\tinto an athlete that would represent New Zealand on the world stage for more than a decade.\n",
"post_icon": "https:\/\/www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz\/media\/website_posts\/452\/Screenshot-2026-07-03-154430.png",
"post_content_type": "url",
"post_content_url": "https:\/\/www.1news.co.nz\/2026\/06\/29\/les-mills-former-auckland-mayor-and-fitness-pioneer-dies-at-91\/",
"post_date": "2026-07-03 03:45:39"
},
{
"post_id": "451",
"post_category_id": "1",
"post_title": "Age Concern Southland trials virtual reality headsets",
"post_content_short": "Older Southlanders could soon be jetting off to Europe, or swimming with dolphins without leaving home, thanks to virtual reality. For the\npast two months, Age Concern Southland has been running VR headset trials with their volunteers. Its manager Janette Turner spoke to John\nCampbell.",
"post_icon": "https:\/\/www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz\/media\/website_posts\/451\/Screenshot-2026-07-03-154133.png",
"post_content_type": "url",
"post_content_url": "https:\/\/www.rnz.co.nz\/national\/programmes\/morningreport\/audio\/2019039746\/age-concern-southland-trials-virtual-reality-headsets",
"post_date": "2026-07-03 03:42:14"
},
{
"post_id": "450",
"post_category_id": "1",
"post_title": "Boomer Women Are Changing the Time-Worn Aging Script",
"post_content_short": "\n\t
",
"post_icon": "https:\/\/www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz\/media\/website_posts\/450\/Screenshot-2026-06-25-091017.png",
"post_content_type": "url",
"post_content_url": "https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/nz\/blog\/raging-with-grace\/202606\/boomer-women-are-changing-the-time-worn-aging-script",
"post_date": "2026-06-24 23:19:47"
},
{
"post_id": "449",
"post_category_id": "1",
"post_title": "Mr Hill, 84 today, contemplates the end (of writing)",
"post_content_short": "From Newsroom:<\/strong> I turn 84 today. Maybe that’s why I find myself thinking of the decision made by Maurice Gee, who published\n\tno adult fiction for his last 16 years. He stopped, as deliberately and absolutely as that.\n\n
\n\tI also think of Harry Orsman, lexicographer, authority on English as spoken in New Zild, and one of my university tutors at what was then\n\tVictoria University of Wellington. Harry was talking to us one afternoon about Chaucer’s language and sources. He mentioned his own\n\ttutor, from the late 1940s it would have been. I can’t recall the guy’s name. But I do remember Harry pausing, smiling affectionately, and\n\tsaying ”There’s not much left of him now, except a pair of bright blue eyes. But he’s still writing.” I knew instantly that I wouldn’t –\n\tcouldn’t – forget that tribute.\n\n
\n\tSo there you are. One author who stopped; one who couldn’t. Pause here, to contemplate which category each of us may slip into. I know\n\tauthors who stopped because they couldn’t face another rejection; others whose health or other outside-world circumstances meant they\n\tcouldn’t keep going. I sympathise with them all.\n",
"post_icon": "https:\/\/www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz\/media\/website_posts\/449\/Screenshot-2026-06-25-090346.png",
"post_content_type": "url",
"post_content_url": "https:\/\/newsroom.co.nz\/2026\/06\/24\/mr-hill-84-today-contemplates-the-end-of-writing\/",
"post_date": "2026-06-24 21:05:24"
},
{
"post_id": "448",
"post_category_id": "1",
"post_title": "Rotorua iwi Ngāti Whakaue launches ‘world-first’ papakāinga aged care model",
"post_content_short": "From the New Zealand Herald<\/strong>: A Rotorua iwi has launched a “world-first” aged care model designed to support kaumātua at\n\thome for as long as possible.\n\n
Ngāti Whakaue unveiled the papakāinga model of care “designed by iwi, for iwi” at Te Puia in Rotorua on Friday.\n
\n\tAbout 160 people attended the launch, including Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora, Iwi Māori Partnership Boards and Ngāti Whakaue\n\trepresentatives.\n\n
\n\tNgāti Whakaue has been working with Te Rau Ora – the kaupapa Māori health workforce development organisation for Aotearoa – to address who\n\twill care for the iwi’s ageing population, and where.\n",
"post_icon": "https:\/\/www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz\/media\/website_posts\/448\/Screenshot-2026-06-25-085534.png",
"post_content_type": "url",
"post_content_url": "https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/kahu\/rotorua-ngati-whakaue-launches-world-first-papakainga-aged-care-model\/L7FZ7YY6ZBAVHAWULJPVZMWAPE\/",
"post_date": "2026-06-24 20:57:12"
},
{
"post_id": "447",
"post_category_id": "1",
"post_title": "'Technostress' causing older people to feel shut out by digital world, research finds",
"post_content_short": "Endless apps, pop-ups, passwords, updates, downloads, and deepfakes<\/a> -\n\tthe relentless march of the digital age is enough to make anyone's head spin.\n\n
For some older New Zealanders, it's leading to a loss of social connection and even limiting their access to essential services.\n
\n\tNew research out of the University of Auckland has found that \"technostress\" is causing many older people to feel shut out by the digital\n\tworld.\n\n
But not for 92-year-old Peter Singh and his top-of-the-line iPhone 17.\n
\"I do my emails, I do my banking,\" he said. \"I can find my way in the car.\"\n
A keen photographer, he's also got every app you can think of - he's even on TikTok.\n
\n\tHe said he knew nothing of computers when he first joined the Eden-Roskill branch of SeniorNet, a non-profit society helping people over 50\n\tto learn or enhance their technology skills.\n",
"post_icon": "https:\/\/www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz\/media\/website_posts\/447\/Screenshot-2026-06-17-194411.png",
"post_content_type": "url",
"post_content_url": "https:\/\/www.rnz.co.nz\/news\/business\/598287\/technostress-causing-older-people-to-feel-shut-out-by-digital-world-research-finds",
"post_date": "2026-06-17 07:47:47"
},
{
"post_id": "446",
"post_category_id": "1",
"post_title": "A sports professor on five of the biggest myths about exercise and aging",
"post_content_short": "As people around the world seek to live longer, healthier lives, the global longevity and wellness market has topped US$2.5 trillion. Yet\n\tresearch shows that one of the best things we can do to remain fitter and healthier for longer isn’t to drop dollars on expensive longevity\n\ttreatments or supplements; it’s to exercise.\n\n
\n\tResearch shows that those who exercise regularly are less likely to succumb to premature death, and reduce their risk of developing\n\tconditions such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis and mental health disorders.\n",
"post_icon": "https:\/\/www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz\/media\/website_posts\/446\/Screenshot-2026-06-16-095429.png",
"post_content_type": "url",
"post_content_url": "https:\/\/www.stuff.co.nz\/health\/360984139\/sports-professor-five-biggest-myths-about-exercise-and-aging",
"post_date": "2026-06-15 21:56:34"
},
{
"post_id": "445",
"post_category_id": "1",
"post_title": "The average Kiwi retires with $78k in KiwiSaver. For many women, it’s far less",
"post_content_short": "The average Kiwi now has $77,900 in their KiwiSaver account by the time they reach 65 – a figure that still leaves us $469,100 shy of our\n\tcounterparts in Australia.\n\n
\n\tAccording to the latest report from the Retirement Commission, our savings by retirement age are up more than $8,000 than they were a year\n\tago.\n\n
\n\tBalances are growing across\n\tevery demographic<\/a> group,\n\twith 90% of Kiwis earning $50,000 or more (the annual minimum wage) now contributing to KiwiSaver.\n\n
The average KiwiSaver balance across every age group now sits at $41,286, up from $37,079 a year earlier.",
"post_icon": "https:\/\/www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz\/media\/website_posts\/445\/Screenshot-2026-06-02-094029.png",
"post_content_type": "url",
"post_content_url": "https:\/\/www.stuff.co.nz\/money\/360983658\/average-kiwi-retires-77k-kiwisaver-many-women-its-far-less?fbclid=IwY2xjawSK2t9leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETF4Vzl4OVFINmNvUnpseTgwc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHsbo6J8u30HNNOzN7_BO2lngp4YudOUrYYnEal6RJTqeUcg1JG1",
"post_date": "2026-06-01 21:42:12"
},
{
"post_id": "444",
"post_category_id": "1",
"post_title": "King's Birthday 2026: What's open, what's closed and how it's decided who gets honours",
"post_content_short": "Explainer<\/em> - New Zealand celebrates King Charles' birthday with a public holiday Monday - even though his birthday isn't until\n\tNovember.\n\n
\n\tHere's what you need to know about what will be open and closed, your employment rights if you are working and why we celebrate the monarch\n\tevery June, regardless of when their birthday is.\nSo is the King giving me a day off work?<\/h3>\n
Pretty much.",
"post_icon": "https:\/\/www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz\/media\/website_posts\/444\/Screenshot-2026-05-29-100400.png",
"post_content_type": "url",
"post_content_url": "https:\/\/www.rnz.co.nz\/news\/community\/596658\/king-s-birthday-2026-what-s-open-what-s-closed-and-how-it-s-decided-who-gets-honours",
"post_date": "2026-05-28 22:55:43"
},
{
"post_id": "443",
"post_category_id": "1",
"post_title": "SuperGold card being upgraded",
"post_content_short": "New Zealand’s seniors will soon be able to use their SuperGold cards as an official form of identification, making it easier for them to\naccess essential services. “Budget 2026 is funding the modernisation of the SuperGold Card to give users the free option to upgrade to a\nversion which they can use as an accepted form of primary identification,” Seniors Minister Casey Costello announced today. “More than\n900,000 New Zealanders are aged 65 and over and many do not have legal ID such as a driver licence or passport, which can limit their\nability to access things like banking and legal services.” The upgraded card will include a photograph and enhanced security features, and\nmeet standards required by banks and other service providers. It will be available in both physical and digital versions.",
"post_icon": "https:\/\/www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz\/media\/website_posts\/443\/Screenshot-2026-05-28-143844.png",
"post_content_type": "url",
"post_content_url": "https:\/\/budget.govt.nz\/budget\/pdfs\/releases\/l18-costello-supergold-card-being-upgraded.pdf",
"post_date": "2026-05-28 02:43:04"
},
{
"post_id": "442",
"post_category_id": "1",
"post_title": "Topp Twin and comedy icon Jools Topp dies at age 68",
"post_content_short": "Dame Jools Topp has died after living with breast cancer. As one half of the Topp Twins with her sister Lynda, Jools brought joy to\ngenerations of New Zealanders. \n
One of the country's most loved entertainers, Dame Jools Topp, has died at the age of 68.\n
She had breast cancer, a disease that she was first diagnosed with in 2006 before it returned in 2021.\n
\n\tJools died at home on Saturday with her twin sister Lynda, brother Bruce, close friends and \"all her fur-babies by her side\", a statement\n\tfrom the family confirmed on Monday. A celebration honouring Jools’ life will be announced shortly.\n",
"post_icon": "https:\/\/www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz\/media\/website_posts\/442\/Screenshot-2026-05-25-162622.png",
"post_content_type": "url",
"post_content_url": "https:\/\/www.rnz.co.nz\/life\/people\/celebrity\/topp-twin-and-comedy-icon-jools-topp-dies-at-age-68",
"post_date": "2026-05-25 04:27:56"
},
{
"post_id": "441",
"post_category_id": "1",
"post_title": "How Kiwis are Coping: Pensioners forgoing coffee, meat to keep budgets low",
"post_content_short": "As the cost of living climbs and Trump's war on Iran drives fuel costs sky-high, how are Kiwis coping? What are they doing\n\twithout? How are they saving money? An RNZ series examines the ways it's impacting different groups.<\/em><\/strong>\n\n
\n\tThe increasing cost of living is hurting most, but those on fixed incomes have even less room to move with some forced to forego coffee and\n\tmeat.\n\n
\n\tPetrol and oil prices have crept\n\texponentially higher after the war in Iran<\/a>,\n\twhile statistics show pharmaceuticals and electricity also keep putting pressure on the wallet.\n\n
Pensioners were just one group on fixed incomes struggling to make ends meet.\n
As a single pensioner living alone - you'd get $555.15 a week.\n
It's slightly less if that person was living in shared accommodation.\n
Whereas a couple who were both eligible get $427.04 each a week.\n
So when bills, insurance, petrol and other expenses add up, something has got to give.",
"post_icon": "https:\/\/www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz\/media\/website_posts\/441\/Screenshot-2026-05-25-133405.png",
"post_content_type": "url",
"post_content_url": "https:\/\/www.rnz.co.nz\/news\/community\/595623\/how-kiwis-are-coping-pensioners-forgoing-coffee-meat-to-keep-budgets-low",
"post_date": "2026-05-25 01:41:47"
},
{
"post_id": "440",
"post_category_id": "27",
"post_title": "A Good Life Isn’t a Perfectly Happy One",
"post_content_short": "Coping well, finding purpose, and staying connected as we age<\/strong><\/em>
\n
\nIf you've ever felt pressure to \"stay positive,\" especially as you get older, you're not alone. There's a quiet assumption that we should be\ngrateful, cheerful, and resilient all the time. But real life doesn't work like that.
\n
\nA more realistic and kinder goal isn't constant happiness. It's coping well through life's ups and downs, having a sense of purpose, and\nstaying connected to people and places that make us feel we belong.
\n
\nThis matters especially in later life, when change can come thick and fast: retirement, health shifts, grief, reduced independence, family\nchanges, or simply the feeling that the world has sped up and left us behind.",
"post_icon": "https:\/\/www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz\/media\/website_posts\/440\/A-Good-Life-Isnt-a-Perfectly-Happy-One-blog-image.png",
"post_content_type": "page",
"post_content_url": "https:\/\/www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz\/blog\/a-good-life-isnt-a-perfectly-happy-one\/",
"post_date": "2026-05-21 23:48:04"
}
]