Over the years, a number of notable trends, such as increased longevity and individuals taking on greater responsibility for their pension provision, have clearly altered the retirement landscape significantly. Now, new trends look set to further change the face of retirement, adding complexity to the retirement planning process and making early planning ever more essential.
Multi-retirement households
One of the new trends relates to families with more than one generation retired at the same time. A key impact of this trend will be the extra strain placed on families’ finances leaving many households needing to reassess retirement plans to navigate a multi-retirement reality.
Age gap relationships
Further complications also arise when there is an age gap in a relationship, as this means each partner will generally be looking at a different retirement timescale. Such a situation also heightens the need to plan at a family level, as it will typically mean other surrounding generations are at different life stages too, potentially adding greater complexity to family structures.
Open and honest
Discussing and planning for retirement has always clearly been vital but growth in multi-retirement families and age gap relationships makes this even more important. Open and honest conversations relating to retirement expectations need to take place between partners and with family, and key decisions over expected retirement timings and which family members will require financial support need to be discussed and agreed.
The future can be bright
While these trends will certainly change the face of retirement for many families, one thing that won’t change is our support.
A pension is a long-term investment not normally accessible until 55 (57 from April 2028). The fund value may fluctuate and can go down, which would have an impact on the level of pension benefits available.
Information within this article is based on our current understanding and can be subject to change without notice and the accuracy and completeness of the information cannot be guaranteed.