In the UK today, there are approximately 11.8million people of retirement age. With an average death age of 79[1] , a typical person in retirement can look forward to 16.5 years of relaxation and enjoyment in their later years – or can they?
A research led by AXA amongst 1000 UK pensioners [2] uncovers the reality of what life is really like for pensioners today.
Life in retirement
When it came to looking towards their retirement over one in six (almost two million) of all current pensioners dreaded the lack of a social life, boredom and loneliness. This is borne out in reality with a similar number of those very pensioners today associating their retirement with depression – particularly men with almost a fifth feeling this way. Boredom is also a prominent issue of retirement with 15% associating it with this while one in eight also associate it with poverty. Similarly, one in seven associate this period of their life with loneliness.
One of the biggest causes of sadness among pensioners is the isolation they feel being away from their family. The average retiree lives 53 miles away from relatives with one in eight living over 100 miles away. When asked, almost one in seven admit regret at not moving closer to family members before they retired.
Less than half of all retirees believe they are enjoying a better retirement than their parents (45%), with one in nine believing they are in fact worse off.
Coping with money
One of the biggest retirement anxieties was the need to live off a restricted budget with over four million current pensioners (35%) not looking forward to this aspect whilst over one in six, dreaded the lack of a social life. With an average retirement income of £295 [3], the research shows that average disposable income available each week for pensioners after all bills and outgoings, is just £68.07. Perhaps unsurprisingly, almost half of all retirees wish they had saved more for retirement, whilst almost a quarter would have contributed to a private pension if they could have prepared differently for their later years. Almost one in five (17%) would have retired later.
The research highlighted that while the maximum unexpected bill a pensioner could afford to pay is on average £1,666, one in 11 retirees (9%) would not be able to afford to pay an unexpected bill of £50 or less, with close to one in five (19%) having to borrow money from their friends and family should this happen. 17% would have to borrow from the banks, 10% would have to sell personal belongings and one in nine would pay for this on a credit card.
Steve Folkard, Head of Savings and Pensions Policy at AXA said: ‘Our research shows that far from the idyllic existence we are envisioning for ourselves in retirement; the reality is that our days are filled with much more mundane activities, largely because we are restricted – both by wealth and health – in what we can do. With 64% of people planning to support themselves in their retirement with the basic state pension, this is clearly an issue we need to address.
“The 14 participants completing our ‘Living on a State Pension’ challenge realised just how tough this could be with boredom, isolation and poverty affecting their day-to-day lives, just as it does for many pensioners today.”
Recent research [4] commissioned by AXA shows that the UK population believes that in retirement they will be splashing out on exotic holidays (44%), eating out regularly with friends (45%), spoiling the grandchildren (45%), going to the theatre (45%) and even buying new cars (over one in five). However the reality is that they will be facing years in front of the TV, sleeping and reading books to pass the time as boredom and budgets limit our retirement dreams.
The My Budget Day research [5] shows that on average during their 16.5 years of retirement, UK pensioners will spend:
- Over five years (almost 66 months) sleeping or napping
- Almost one and a half years reading books, newspapers and magazines (just over 17 months)
- Over two years (over 25 months) watching TV and using the Internet
[1] World Health Organisation
[2] Research completed by Onepoll amongst 1000 retirees during November 2009
[3] http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/pensioners_income.asp
[4] Source: YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2110 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 15th – 16th October 2009. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).
[5] Research completed by Onepoll amongst 1000 retirees during November 2009
