With life expectancy rates rising rapidly across the globe thanks to advances in healthcare and better living standards, many of us will get the chance to celebrate our 100th birthday.
But the financial implications of hitting such a milestone mean that the concept of traditional retirement is fast disappearing. After all, can we really afford to fund our golden years for up to 40 years when you factor in the average retirement age of 65?
There are currently 703 million people in the world aged 65 or over and that figure is expected to double to more than 1.5 billion by 2050, according to a 2019 United Nations report. Meanwhile, global life expectancy increased by 5.5 years between 2000 and 2016, according to the World Health Organisation.
So how do we fund our longer lives? Are retirement funds and state pensions sustainable if people are going to live for so long after giving up work? And should we all be considering a much longer career than planned?
Host Alice Haine is joined by Andrew J Scott, a professor of economics at the London Business School and co-author of The 100-year life – Living and Working in an Age of Longevity.
