Saving for retirement: Are you ready to live to 100?
People don’t feel sufficiently prepared to live to 100, Irish Life surveys show. People say their retirement pot is less than a third of what they believe they will need on average. Photo: iStock
, marketing and communications director at Irish Life Employer Solutions, offers some invaluable advice on saving for retirement
Ireland’s demography is getting older and soon, living to 100 will become normal. Our new Life100+ research shows people in Ireland see lots of opportunities with living longer like more time with family and more life experiences. But are we ready to live to 100?
Not yet, it seems. There are a lot of disconnects in what we know we should be doing to get ready for the 100-year life and what we are actually doing or are willing to do today.
60% of people feel positive about living to 100 but only 25% definitely want it for themselves. Why? The aspiration to live to 100 hinges heavily on having financial security, health and purpose. People don’t see later life as being just about pensions anymore.
Today, 1 in 2 people feel in control of the direction their life is taking but when we asked people to consider living to 100 – that figure dropped significantly to 1 in 3. People don’t feel sufficiently prepared.
Looking at financial security, there is a substantial disconnect between what people think they’ll need in their retirement savings and what they actually have – the amount people say they have in retirement savings (€102k) is less than a third of what they believe they will need on average (€315k).
When it comes to advice, 74% of people know they’ll need advice on retirement savings and funding that longer life. Yet only 43% have had any sort of advice to date. The insights show us that these people – the ones who have sought advice – are substantially more confident (45% versus 23%) about living longer.
The concept of healthspan as opposed to lifespan is a recurring theme. People don’t just want to live for longer; they want to live well for longer. Health and wealth are interconnected – two sides of the same coin. People see health as a key enabler of being able to work and therefore being financially secure as they age through their retirement. What also came through is that people want support in living well for longer, from their employers and the state. They want help in staying healthy and planning this longer life. They want incentives that reward healthy behaviours, they want company benefits that really matter.
People also spoke about how careers and the workplace will need to change. 75% believe people will need to work longer but there’s a disconnect between that belief and what people feel they are willing to apply to their own lives. When we asked how people would adjust their own retirement date, many only added 1 year.
What became clear is that it’s not just about working longer; it’s about working differently. The majority want a gentler, more phased retirement. Only 1 in 5 expect a traditional hard stop at a fixed retirement age. People want flexibility and options. They might want to scale back at some stage, or take time out to reskill, or to change career entirely.
The value of older workers came through in spades. Employers and coworkers all appreciate the experience that older workers bring. They recognise the value of the crystallised intelligence that people build up over their career. There is a real opportunity for companies who reimagine career and retirement pathways to help older workers thrive in the workplace for longer. If older workers can be allowed to scale back, while mentoring, consulting and passing on their skills and experience to develop the next generation, everybody wins.
The 100-year life challenges the assumptions of our traditional map of life – learning for 20 years, working for 40, retiring for 20. That map no longer makes sense in this new reality.
In that sense, living to 100 presents opportunities and challenges for every person and every business across Ireland. It will change how we approach life, money, health and work. That is what makes Life100+ so compelling and relatable.
While we all find it difficult to imagine ourselves being old, and imagining living to 100 seems kind of impossible, it’s crucial that we do. A child born today has a 1 in 4 chance of living to 100. Employers in Ireland are fielding requests today for people looking to work longer and phase their retirements. This is not a future trend; the shift is already happening.
The opportunity is very real. People and businesses who get this right will reap real meaningful benefits. The importance of acting today is clear. We can all decide on the first thing we are going to do and then commit to making it happen. Life100+ shows the power of advice in all of this. Employers looking to reimagine careers and put supports in place for their people can book a benefit strategy conversation with their provider. Individuals hoping to maximise the benefits of living longer can book a financial advice session or a wellness check. At Irish Life, we’ll be beside you every step of the way.
