For a long time, the road to retirement followed a familiar path. Individuals saved up for a pension during their working life in order to retire at a set age; usually around 65. This path has shifted, however.
The last 15 years have seen the way people save for, prepare for, and enjoy retirement change. In many cases these have been subtle, driven by what can, on an individual and year-by-year basis, seem quite slow moving demographical, economic and social trends. Over a long period of time however, there has been a quiet revolution taking place.
The changing meaning of age has allowed individuals a level of freedom in retirement that was not possible before, notes Andrew Tully, technical director, Canada Life in an exclusive new guide exploring the concept of retirement.
The declining relevance of social rules in particular means the business of retirement and saving for a pension are constantly changing. Gone are the days when retirement meant pottering around the garden, replaced with a desire to travel for example.
In investigating the factors affecting people retiring in the coming decades, several ‘common' journeys are appearing, analysis from Canada Life shows. The group's ‘Remodelling Retirement' research, produced in association with Trajectory Research, finds there are two retirement journeys that will grow significantly over the next 15 years - ‘Late financial bloomers' and ‘Complex families, complex finances'.
Currently these journeys are likely to be a small client base for advisers. However, this group is expected to decrease as a proposition of the total market over the next decade and a half.
Click here to access the research via the Remodelling Retirement digital experience.
