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We're living longer
With people living longer than ever before, saving for retirement is increasingly important.
According to the latest figures the life expectancy of someone born in the UK is 81 years for females and 77 for males (based on birth in 2006/07).*
As the average age of the UK population is likely to continue increasing for the foreseeable future, for example, due to improvements in healthcare, there will be more people of retirement age and fewer of working age to pay taxes to support them.
The impact of this increasing longevity is that State pension provision in the future is likely to be even less generous than it is today. In addition, as people live longer any savings will need to cover a greater period of retirement than ever before - it has been calculated that on average a woman aged 65 can now expect to live to age 85, while a man can expect to live to age 82 (based on figures from 2006/07).*
*Source: Government Actuary's Department, 2006
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