Can we afford old age?

Apr 25, 2018

This article is published in collaboration with Raconteur.

Senior soccer players take part in a match at a soccer field in Miraflores, in Lima, June 19, 2014. Senior players, aged from 60 to 90, play weekly in a program organized by the municipality to promote activities for older adults. Picture taken June 19, 2014. REUTERS/Mariana Bazo (PERU - Tags: SOCIETY SPORT SOCCER TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR3VDHD

Global pension systems are under strain. Image: REUTERS/Mariana Bazo

Longevity is increasing and is set to put a growing population of retirees under immense stress in the coming decades as people struggle to pay for their retirement. Life expectancies have risen by an average of three years per decade since the 1940s and, while retirement ages are gradually increasing, people are spending longer not working without the savings to justify it. This has created a $70-trillion pensions timebomb in eight of the world’s largest economies, which could swell by nearly six times by 2050.

Image: Raconteur

Further reading:

Case Studies in Retirement System Reform

We’ll Live to 100 – How Can We Afford It? (pdf)

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