For many years, I have been doing research into what it takes to prepare for a successful retirement. Through this work, I have learned that the concept of retirement means different things to different people. The traditional view where you stop working from one day to the next is becoming as outdated as the concept of a job for life, upon which the idea was built.

The New Social Contract: Empowering individuals in a transitioning world, a global survey report published by Aegon in 2019, identifies people’s top four current life priorities as: being healthy and fit (62%), enjoying life (59%), planning for their financial future (49%), and focusing on family (45%). Since the end of last year, the entire world has been upended by COVID-19.

The U.K. has ushered in a new Conservative government to get “Brexit done.”  The pound rose in value against the dollar on the news that Boris Johnson is in - but meanwhile the health of the nation suffered a dip in the news that day. 

Helsinki, FINLAND (July 15, 2019) – Global, national, and local business and government leaders came together in Helsinki last week for the first time ever to drive action toward co-created innovation in products, services, and public policies that help enable and meet the needs of our growing global aging society.

In my role as CEO of Aegon, I am often confronted with heartbreaking stories about people who are inadequately prepared for retirement. Many of these stories are about people who were caught off guard by life’s unforeseen circumstances and expectations of social safety nets that no longer exist.