We’ll live to 100 – how can we afford it? 

As we all know too well, retirement systems today face unprecedented challenges. Our ability to provide adequate retirement income for current retirees and future generations, many of whom will live to 100 years or more, is in question. 

How well prepared are we to support ourselves and future generations in old age? A new report from the World Economic Forum (WEF), in collaboration with Mercer, We’ll Live To 100 - How Can We Afford It? provides a disconcerting view.

The report sizes the global pension gap and provides perspectives on a number of different pension systems from around the world .  According to the new WEF research, the current gap between aggregate savings and expected annual retirement income needs stands at 70 trillion US dollars. This is one and a half times the combined GDP of the eight countries studied - Australia, Canada, China, India, Japan, Netherlands, UK, and US. In the aggregate, these countries make up 44% of the world’s population¹ and 57% of the world’s economic activity².

Even more troubling, the report finds that these eight countries are on course to face a combined shortfall of $400T by 2050 – a growth in the gap of 28 Billion US Dollars every day between now and 2050.

To address the issues facing governments, employers and individuals alike, Mercer is working together with industry experts to help redefine retirement. Fill out the form below to join the conversation.

¹ http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL
² http://databank.worldbank.org/data/download/GDP.pdf