Planning for longer lives

Medical advances have helped increase life expectancy, but with this good news comes challenges in retirement financing. Governments, insurers and pension funds should work together to help plan for longer lives.

We are living longer and having fewer children. These two issues are behind the growing financial challenges associated with longevity risk.

According to the European Commission, there is currently one person aged over 65 for every four people of working age. By 2060, this ratio could be one over 65 to every two people of working age.

During a European Policy Centre dialogue, “Europe’s pension crisis – finding a solution,” Swiss Re Head of Life and Health Alison Martin stated that the challenge is not just that people are living longer – which is a positive trend in society – but also the fact that how long they live has been significantly underestimated for decades.

Working together to fund longer lives

Europe is not alone in experiencing this trend: numerous employer pension funds, insurers and governments worldwide are exposed to this longevity risk and considerable changes are required to fund our longer lives.

A joined-up approach is needed with governments, businesses and financial service providers working in tandem to create a suitable plan. Educating the general population about the issue is also important

As a provider of risk transfer services to the life industry for over a century, Swiss Re has funding solutions to assist the insurance industry and pension funds in addressing their longevity exposure.

Find out more

• Download the publication, “A window into the future: Understanding and predicting longevity” which explains how forward-looking models can provide better estimates of future life expectancy.
• Listen to Daniel Ryan, Head of Research & Development for Life & Health, and Costas Yiasoumi, Head of Longevity Solutions, discuss the new report in our podcast
• Find out more about the WEF 2012 publication on ageing societies, "Global population ageing: peril or promise?"
• Swiss Re's Centre for Global Dialogue held a major conference on the science behind living longer lives, "The future of human longevity: Breaking the code"
• Find out more about longevity funding issues and potential solutions through our report, "A short guide to longer lives".
• Learn more about the EPC dialogue on Europe’s pensions crisis – finding a solution.
• Listen to Swiss Re’s interview with Lord Hutton, Chair of the Independent Public Pensions Commission in the UK, during 2011's WEF in Davos

Image: Cees Dekker TU Delft / Tremani

Published 1 September 2011
Updated 27 January 2012