Successful Retirement: Healthy Aging and Financial Security
In a world in which one in five people can expect to live beyond their 90th birthday1, governments in many countries are coming under increasing strain to fund the costs associated with an aging society. Traditional views of retirement are changing. Increasingly, people see it as an active stage of life where they aspire to stay socially connected, involved in their communities and continue to work in some capacity. These changes open the possibility for greater dialogue about two elements necessary to prepare for retirement.
Retirement is perhaps the ultimate intersection of wealth and health, because it requires careful financial planning as well as maintaining good health to fully enjoy it. The key message from Successful Retirement: Healthy Aging and Financial Security, a research report based on a global retirement survey, is that preparing financially and staying healthy can lead to a greater probability of achieving retirement readiness. Individuals, employers, the retirement industry and governments play a role in creating an environment that facilitates the behaviors needed to achieve active aging and long-term financial security.
This research report aims to broaden the discussion on how people are preparing for retirement by examining at the financial aspects and looking at the role health plays in their outlook and preparations. It spotlights a disconnect between concerns people have about their health in older age versus their current health-related behaviors.
The report is a collaboration among Aegon (the Netherlands) and nonprofits Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies (U.S.) and Instituto de Longevidade Mongeral Aegon (Brazil). It is based on a 2017 survey of 14,400 workers and 1,600 retired people in 15 countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Interviews were conducted online between February 6 and 18, 2017.
1United Nations, Population Division, World Population Prospects, The 2015 Revision