Broadening the view on retirement

Long lives used to be reserved for the lucky few, but nowadays most people live well past traditional retirement age. Retirement has become a considerably more important life phase and many now see it as a time for enjoyment and well-deserved rest. This notion requires a view on preparing for retirement that goes beyond a traditional financial scope. For this reason, Aegon Center for Longevity and Retirement has invited the researchers of Leyden Academy to help reflect on retirement from different academic angles, and encourage a broader debate on retirement.

The combined perspectives are published in the series Broadening the view on retirement. We have released the following two whitepapers:

  • In the first whitepaper Why do we retire? (December 2018), we explore the various wishes and aspirations people have with respect to retirement, which call for tailored solutions in retirement planning. We need to design pension systems that provide citizens with a certain degree of freedom, flexibility and choice, while maintaining the balance between pay-outs and contributions that is characteristic of collective arrangements.
  • In the second whitepaper Health and retirement (June 2019), we argue that people should be encouraged to think about their health in retirement, as this can enable or hinder their aspirations in later life. Research shows that good health has a positive effect on the retirement readiness of employees and retirement itself can play an important role as a ‘teachable moment’ for adopting healthier lifestyles.

For more information, please contact Niels Bartels.