When it comes to your retirement, what do you want your life to look like? Opportunities to travel, more time to spend with family or just the chance to pause and shift life into the slow-lane for a while. We are guessing that whatever your plans are, health and wealth are an important feature of your vision for the future.
While each person’s retirement goals and requirements are unique, Aon has discovered that almost one in three U.S. employees will not have saved enough by retirement to ensure their future security. Couple this with longer average lifespans and an increase in chronic illness caused by lifestyle factors, and the outlook for many employees is not quite as certain as they may hope.
When you take these factors into consideration, it becomes clearer why health and wealth are so interconnected. In this blog we will explore why maintaining a healthy approach to both fitness and finance today can positively impact your future plans – so before you abandon your vision for your leisure years, read on.
Demographic patterns are forcing changes to traditional pension structures
Global life expectancy rates have continued to rise steadily for decades, transforming demographic patterns in almost every corner of the world. While global life expectancy increased by an average of 5.5-years between 2000 and 2016 from 66.5 to 72 years, there are some dramatic exceptions to this;
A girl born in South Korea in 2030, for instance, will be expected to live for 90.8-years. As these demographic patterns change, so too do the pressures on governments and private sector employers to alter their benefits and pension plans.
Millennials face a more uncertain future than their parents and grandparents
More and more employees have seen changes to their pension structures that shift the focus from a guaranteed retirement income towards a greater emphasis on the importance of their personal savings; for younger generations, preparing for the future has never been more important.
Yet despite the uphill climb Millennials are facing when it comes to saving, many are still in the dark about their financial futures, with 90% guessing what size their pension pot should be.
Research suggests that this uncertainty is not through lack of interest, but instead, as a result of a gap in their financial knowledge. This common blind spot indicates that employers have the opportunity to play a more prominent role in the financial education and wellbeing of their people.
0%
of Millennials guess what size their pension pot should be
Future-proof your health for retirement
Looking forward to all that extra time you will have in retirement to focus on your health and wellbeing?
What are you waiting for?
Research suggests that maintaining your fitness throughout your life and into retirement can prove beneficial for both your health and your wealth. A recent study in the UK suggested that insufficient time to pay attention to health, a lack of motivation to make positive changes, and ongoing health problems are leaving many over 55’s in poor shape for retirement; hindering their ambitions for life beyond the confines of work. The findings suggest that those approaching retirement age should be prioritising their fitness and doing more to remain active; this will help them to enjoy a healthy retirement with minimal financial impact.
The research discovered that while many lose interest in maintaining their fitness beyond 55, this also coincides with increased levels of ill health among this age group.
As increasing number of people work beyond retirement age to bridge the gap between their aspirations and their financial reality, the number of over 70s still in employment in the UK has doubled in the last ten years. Maintaining your health and fitness throughout your life can enable you to sustain the pace and level of work as you approach your retirement years, or extend your career beyond national retirement age should you need/want to; allowing you to maximise crucial retirement funds, as well as retaining brain function through mental activity.
With improved health and greater financial certainty, the potential to have the retirement you envisage is achievable.
How employers can help improve the health and wealth of their workforce now
While traditional benefits packages have focused on the physical wellbeing of employees, a new generation of employers is adopting a more holistic approach to wellbeing that addresses the physical, social, emotional, professional, and financial needs of employees. Companies that proactively embrace health and financial wellbeing benefits as part of a long-term wellbeing strategy can help to develop a healthier, more engaged and financially confident workforce.
- Support employee health and fitness by creating a culture of wellness – promote healthy eating, incentivise walking, running or cycling to work, and encourage your people to move more during the working day.
- Offer flexible working solutions to help employees find the balance between work life and home life and their future aspirations.
- Ask your employees what health and financial support they need; develop guidance and educational support systems within the workplace.
- Explore workplace pension solutions to explore new ideas for supporting your employees to build their retirement savings.
Aon – working with leaders to improve the health and wealth of their teams.
