Longer lives mean people need to make their retirement savings last longer. At the same time, there is a shift in many advanced markets from defined benefit to defined contribution (DC) pensions. This is an important shift from people receiving a guaranteed income for life, to a system where individuals have greater responsibility for funding and managing their retirement. As people meet the tasks of managing their own pensions, they require broader financial services such as advice on how to make retirement income last throughout life, how to transfer wealth through inheritance, and preparing for later-life care.

Many of these decisions begin to take shape before retirement. Financial planning around income, investment risk, tax planning, wealth transfer and protection later in life can have long lasting consequences. This makes the years before retirement a critical engagement window for insurers and advisers. 

As retirement systems offer people more choice over how and when they access their savings, decumulation – the process of turning retirement savings into income and using that over time – becomes more complex. Retirees need to balance income security, flexibility, investment risk, taxation and inheritance planning. Greater flexibility therefore increases the value of financial advice and competition for retirement assets.

The UK illustrates this shift. In 2024, 36% of assets in DC plans had been accessed as tax-free cash without drawing income. Rather than making a single retirement-income decision, people are increasingly separating when they access their pension wealth from how they generate income from it, turning retirement into an ongoing financial-management process.

As more wealth is concentrated among older generations, succession and estate planning are becoming more important alongside retirement income. In the US alone, an estimated USD 124 trillion is expected to be transferred to heirs and charities through 2048. Life insurance can support tax-efficient intergenerational wealth transfer, estate liquidity and succession, particularly for affluent and high-net-worth customers. 

Inheritance decisions rarely have a single relationship holder for the consumer. Private bankers, lawyers, fiduciaries, tax advisers and trustees may all be involved alongside insurance specialists, increasing the importance of life insurance being integrated into broader wealth planning.

Long-term care planning is another important part of preparing financially for later life. Currently, private long-term care insurance is a niche market globally. One challenge for this market is timing: insurance generally needs to be purchased well before care is needed, at an age when awareness of future care needs may still be low. 

Across four major European markets, the private long-term care market grew by more than 50% in nominal terms between 2012 and 2024 to exceed EUR 1 billion in annual premiums. Growth has varied considerably between countries, reflecting differences in public pension and social security systems, consumer perceptions and distribution.

The sigma identifies three ways that people access long-term care insurance: advisers helping people understand their needs and access long-term care insurance through advice and distribution, integrating long-term care protection with retirement and life insurance products, and complementing public programmes that offer long-term care.

For insurers, the opportunity therefore starts before retirement. While insurers are just one part of a broader network involved in managing customer relationships alongside banks, financial advisers and other intermediaries, what matters is being present and adding value when the financial decisions that shape later life are made.