The number of people living over the age of 100 is increasing, with an estimated 15,120 centenarians living in the UK. That number is double since 2002, with a further doubling of those aged 105 and older.
Despite the fact that centenarians represent only 0.02% of the population, it’s still an impressive number. What’s more, one in four children born in the UK this year can expect to live to be almost 100. That’s a potential rise in the percentage of centenarians from 0.02% to 25%!
The world’s oldest man is currently UK resident John Tinniswood, aged 111. He has a little catching up to do on the world’s oldest woman, Maria Branyas, who is aged 117, or the longest-lived man so far, Jiroemon Kimura of Japan, who died in 2013 at the impressive age of 116.
The Second 50
So, given that each generation is living longer than the last, and with more years of life to enjoy, it’s no wonder than a new report from Aegon into midlife and beyond is entitled “The Second 50; Navigating a multi-stage life”.
As Steven Cameron, Pensions Director at Aegon UK says in his introduction to the report:
“Rather than living our life in the traditional three stages – education, work and retirement – we’re entering the new era of the ‘multi-stage life’. Here, people may have multiple careers, periods of learning and retraining, other gaps in unemployment (for example, for caring responsibilities), and a longer period of transition from work to retirement.”
A multi-stage life
I agree with that phrase, multi-stage life. It neatly encapsulates how our lives are in a state of flux over our lifespan. We will have varying requirements on our time, energy and finances across our entire lives, not just when approaching retirement.
So, with more days in our life, how will we choose to spend them? Of the 1000 people surveyed for the report, when asked what they would do with their longer lives:
- 53% wanted to spend more time with loved ones
- 45% wanted to travel
- 33% wanted to start a new hobby
Perhaps the most interesting revelation is that only 27% of those surveyed who are working want to take a ‘hard stop’ retirement. The rest wanted to gently transition between work and being retired. Two of the main factors cited for this was that they enjoyed their work, and also wanted to keep their minds active.
A unique Second 50 for everyone
The Aegon report recognises that:
”Everyone’s Second 50 is truly unique … In many ways, it’s uncharted territory and we can’t simply look to what’s gone before to know how to manage it.”
Now this statement I’m not sure I agree with. My retirement planning clients certainly know what they want from their Second 50, and have made plans for it already. They have already set aside the retirement experiences of their parents or even grandparents, and planned their own retirement in detail, to get the maximum out of every day.
With my help, they have busted a few myths, such as you can’t retire without a State pension, you’ll never get a job aged 65+, or you need £millions to retire these days.
- We have planned their retirement around 8 key areas, only one of which is finances. (The Aegon report suggests just 5 areas).
- We have devised a comprehensive plan that works for them now, and can be reviewed and updated at any time to ensure they live their best lives for the next 30+ years.
Start your planning today
if you’re approaching retirement and not sure what’s going to happen, call me for your free initial Discovery appointment. We’ll discuss what you do now, what you’ll expect to do once you retire, and how or organise your time to fit in everything you want to do on the retirement pot you have.
So, let’s get started!