A Wellingtonian turns 60 today. So do 269 other New Zealanders. Tomorrow, another 270. The day after that, another 270. Every single day, for the next five years, until the entire baby boomer generation has crossed that threshold.

The numbers are staggering. There are now 2.6 million Kiwis aged 60-64, up from 2.3 million just four years ago. (Source: Stats NZ, taxable-income-sources) That's a 13% increase in a single electoral cycle. To put it in perspective: imagine the entire population of Christchurch suddenly joining this age bracket. That's roughly what just happened.

This isn't a gentle demographic shift. It's a wave. In 2000, there were barely half this many people in their early sixties. The bulge that defined post-war New Zealand, the generation that bought houses for three times their annual salary and watched their KiwiSaver balances grow through two decades of compounding returns, is now staring down retirement.

Here's what the data doesn't show: how many of them will actually stop working at 65. The superannuation age is fixed, but the working age isn't. The taxable income figures suggest most people in this bracket are still earning. They're not winding down. They're working full schedules, paying full tax, carrying full financial responsibilities.

And every year, roughly 100,000 more people enter this age group than leave it. The math is relentless. By 2028, there will be over 3 million Kiwis in their early sixties, all approaching the same cliff edge, all making the same calculation: can I afford to stop?

The retirement question used to be simple. You turned 65, you got your super, you spent time with the grandkids. Now it's complicated by mortgage debt that didn't exist for previous generations, adult children who can't afford their own homes, and the creeping realisation that $27,000 a year from NZ Super doesn't go as far as it used to.

What happens when a quarter of your workforce is over 60? What happens when that figure hits a third? New Zealand is about to find out. The 2.6 million people in this dataset aren't an abstract demographic trend. They're your colleagues, your parents, the person who served you coffee this morning. And most of them are still working out when they'll be able to stop.