But today some of us can expect to live another 20 years or more after retirement, and for the lucky ones much of it in reasonably good health.
The age is fast approaching where the idea of retirement previous generations have been used to needs to be – well – retired. New research by BritainThinks, commissioned by Aviva, published last week suggests that many people’s idea of a post-work life of comfort and ease is not met by the reality, resulting in feelings of disappointment and having to scale back aspirations. Some people are working later to boost their retirement income or to maintain a lifestyle they could not afford otherwise. Those people who are providing unpaid care to a partner or relative were particularly hard hit, finding their own retirement finances derailed either because they had to give up work, paying out for the costs of care, or their inheritance being spent down on care costs.