Happy Birthday!
Dear Fellow FiftyUp Club Members,
When I mention November 6 the date doesn’t exactly scream out at you.
Actress Sally Field celebrates a birthday, as does former number one tennis player Ana Ivanovic, and in 1999 Australians voted to keep Queen Elizabeth as our Head of State in the Republic Referendum.
It’s also the date we officially celebrate the first birthday of our FiftyUp Club.
What a journey!
The word spread quickly that we have more than 50% of Australia’s household wealth, and more often than not we are the best customers companies can hope for. We are lower risk, higher value and stick with providers we like and respect.
But that we are also overlooked too often by Government and the Corporates when it comes to better deals and rewards for loyalty.
That prompted legendary adman John Singleton to say at our launch a year ago, “Kids don’t buy anything, teenagers bludge off their parents, next thing you know your kids are gone and by the time you’ve got a quid, you’re 50 – and businesses ignore you. It’s crazy!”
We got off to a flying start in New South Wales, more than 25,000 signed up in the first week, and then I joined as your Chairman in April and we launched in Queensland. Last month Victoria came on board. Now you can visualise our size and power by looking at the crowd of almost 110,000 crammed into Flemington Racecourse to watch Protectionist take the honours. Even media organisations now come to us to seek our position on certain issues.
We have, and will continue to unlock deals on electricity, health insurance, car insurance, finance, retirement savings and a range of other services with your ongoing and growing support.
Soon after taking the job I found myself knocking on the door of Federal Health Minister Peter Dutton with 15,000 of your signatures calling for more transparency in rising health insurance costs.
Mr Dutton also heard from us in no uncertain terms that the proposed $7 co-payment for GP visits would cost him at the ballot box (it’s officially on the ‘backburner’ but unlikely to ever surface again). He may be the first, but he won’t be the last Federal Minister to hear from me on your behalf.
You know, the official first anniversary gift is paper. That is so relevant. We plan to unlock more back to you in the form of cash!
We’ve put our money where our mouth is and we’ve delivered, but there’s plenty of unfinished business. We are here for the long haul. More Australians turn 50 every week. By 2050, government statisticians predict there’ll be twice as many over 55s as there were in 2010.
Happy Birthday, and thank you,
Warmest Wishes,
John & the FiftyUp Club Team
