Facing up to Ageing

In the developed economies, lifespan estimates are increasing by up to five months every year and there is up to a 90% chance that those under 50 will live to 100. These patterns will be emulated for citizens in the developing economies as their incomes, lifestyles and health outlook improve. At the same time we know our pension systems cannot cope - they were not designed for people lasting 15 years past retirement let alone 35. In addition, with population decline in many developed economies, we know that the ratio of workers to retirees is shrinking - reducing the pool of pension funds available to serve a rising on that level of demand.Governments, businesses, the media, society and the pensions industry all have to accept that this is a crisis of our own making - it is not something that's happened overnight. We have had warnings about an impending pensions crisis for over 20 years and have chosen to do little about it. Over the next two years we think the debate will move beyond the current search for blame as people begin to realise that their pension funds won't be able to cope. We will all have been forced to think about how we can fund ourselves for a 100 year lifespan. This might mean working well into our 70's, looking at alternative financing and investment models, changing our lifestyles to reduce our spending, ensuring that we will be healthy enough to keep working and keeping our skills and capabilities relevant.