Issues of life and death

Until relatively recently, most people expected that retirement would be followed within a few years by death. There were always those who lived to a grand old age, but they were definitely the exception rather than the rule. The position now is very different. The Government Actuary's Department recently estimated that men retiring at 65 in 1999 would live, on average, for another 15.3 years, and women retiring at 60 would live, on average, for another 22.7 years. For people with substantial retirement provision, the life expectancies will be even higher. Like most averages, these fi...