Skip to main content
Home
  • About us
    • Our company
    • Our strategy
    • Our purpose
      • Our purpose
      • Our brands
      • Community investments
    • Governance
      • Governance structure
      • Board of Directors
      • Executive Committee
      • Governance documents
    • Compliance
      • Group Compliance
      • Insider Dealing
      • Code of Conduct
      • Speaking up
      • Workplace harassment prevention
      • Financial Economic Crime
      • Know your customer
      • Compliance documentation
  • Investors
    • Annual reports
    • Financial results
    • Presentations
    • Shareholder meetings
      • Annual General Meeting
      • Extraordinary General Meeting
    • Financial calendar
    • Dividend
      • Latest
      • Dividend history
      • Dividend policy
    • Share buybacks
    • Debt and ratings
      • Guiding principles
      • Debt programs
      • Senior notes
      • Capital securities
      • Fixing Schedule Perpetuals
      • Subordinated notes
      • Ratings
    • Investor information
      • Contact investor relations
      • Major shareholders
      • Retail US shareholders
      • Financial and shareholder FAQs
      • Share price tool
      • Financial calendar
      • Analysts
  • Media
    • All news
    • Contact media relations
    • Media kit
  • Sustainability
    • Our priorities
      • Climate change
      • Inclusion and diversity
    • Our approach
    • Our commitments
    • Our ratings
    • Our reports and policies
    • Business conduct
      • Human rights
      • Responsible investment
      • Responsible tax
      • Responsible procurement
      • Government and policy affairs
  • Careers
    • Vacancies
      • Search
    • Why Aegon
    • Inclusion & Diversity
    • Career development
    • Graduates and interns
  • Aegon country websites

    Select another Aegon website from the list of links below.
    • country flag
      Transamerica (USA)
    • country flag
      Aegon Spain
    • country flag
      Mongeral Aegon (Brazil)
    • country flag
      Aegon Asset Management
    • country flag
      Aegon in China
    • country flag
      Aegon United Kingdom

Making time for retirement around the world

October 24, 2019, 11:16 CEST
3 minutes

Breadcrumb

  1. All News

The UK and US have given it an entire week. The rest of the world also needs to make time for planning financially secure and healthy retirement.

Increases in longevity have gifted humanity with an extended period of life. Rather than a time to slow down, a majority of people globally think of retirement as an active phase of life.

When questioned about their aspirations for the 2019 global Aegon Retirement Readiness survey, the most frequently cited were traveling (60 percent), spending more time with friends and family (57 percent), and pursing new hobbies (49 percent). 

These are some of the findings of the report The New Social Contract: Empowering individuals in a transitioning world, published by the Aegon Center for Longevity and Retirement (ACLR). The figures are averages based on a survey of 14,400 workers and 1,600 retired people across 15 countries spanning Europe, the Americas, Asia and Australia. 

Willing but not ready

But wanting and being able to realize retirement aspirations can be poles apart. The two most often cited retirement concerns among people globally are declining physical health (50 percent) and running out of money (40 percent), according to findings from Aegon's research.

National Retirement Security Week

The US Senate has sought to tackle the lack of retirement readiness in the United States by backing National Retirement Security Week. Held annually in the third week of October, the week involves various initiatives by employers and public bodies to get individuals to think about their retirement goals and encourage them to save to finance their planned lifestyle after they stop work.

A lot of the emphasis is put on participating in employer-sponsored retirement savings plans. But only 17 percent of employers are very confident that their employees will be able to achieve a financially secure retirement, according to a new report, Employers: The Retirement Security Challenge, published by Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies (TCRS), a nonprofit sister organization of ACLR. The report states this is an alarming statistic given the societal role employers play in helping workers financially prepare for older age.

"As people live longer, we need to rethink the amount of time spent in the workforce and in retirement. Mathematically, it is challenging for workers to spend 30 to 40 years in the workforce and save enough for a retirement that could easily last 20, 30 or more years," says Catherine Collinson, CEO and president of Transamerica Institute and TCRS. "Most workers want and need to extend their working lives into older age with the flexibility to transition into retirement. However, their ability to do so is highly dependent on their employers."

The survey finds that employers are aware of the need among employees to work beyond traditional retirement age, but few have updated their business practices to support them.

Pension Awareness Campaign 

In the UK, the Pension Awareness Campaign is backed by industry organization Pension Geeks. In September, the campaign started a a nationwide, week-long tour in a minibus from Aegon's UK headquarters in Edinburgh. Stopping at several locations, members of the public were welcomed onboard to get free guidance from a team of advisers on their pensions and retirement preparations. 

These initiatives in the US and UK serve to highlight that while professional advice is available, the onus to plan for retirement is increasingly on the individual.

Five fundamentals

To help address the situation on a global level, the ACLR sets out Five Fundamentals for Retirement Readiness that define steps people can and should take to help ensure that they are on track for a comfortable retirement. They involve different aspects of saving, planning, and preparing for longer lives and older age.

Go to the ACLR's global and country-specific retirement readiness research 

Contact

  • Media relations
  • Investor relations
  • About us
    • Our company
    • Our strategy
    • Our purpose
    • Contact Aegon
  • Investors
    • Annual reports
    • Financial results
    • Presentations
    • Investor information
  • Media
    • All news
    • Media relations
    • Media kit
    • Newsletter sign up
  • Sustainability
    • Our approach
    • Our priorities
    • Business conduct
  • Careers
    • Search vacancies
    • Why Aegon
    • Career development
Site logo
  • Privacy statement
  • Cookie statement
  • Accessibility
  • Disclaimer
Aegon ©2025