The Changing Face of Retirement: The Aegon Retirement Readiness Survey 2013

The increasing number of retirees, longer life expectancies, decreasing working age populations, and the global economic crisis are forcing governments to re-evaluate the sustainability of government-provided retirement entitlement programs. At the same time, employers are looking to de-risk their defined benefit pension liabilities.  As a result, retirement-related risks are being rapidly transferred to those who are perhaps the least equipped to handle them: individuals and families.

The Changing Face of Retirement: The Aegon Retirement Readiness Survey 2013 finds that retirement readiness has declined for all countries included in last year’s survey. For many people, retirement expectations have been replaced with expectations of working longer and a phased retirement. 

The research report examines the rebalancing of retirement-related risks among the government, employers, and individuals, and it offers recommendations on how individuals can be helped to understand and protect themselves against retirement-related risks and take personal responsibility for their own retirement.

The report is based on a 2013 survey encompassing 12,000 workers and retirees in 12 countries: Canada, China, France, Germany, Hungary, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.