Living Long,Living Well?

We are on average living longer than we have ever done before.Girls have a year or two on the boys, but both sexes can expect to reach 80 these days.

Living longer is of course only part of the story.Sadly,many reach a stage in life where quality does not match up to quantity.Deterioration of mental faculties can be particularly distressing for both the elderly and their loved ones.Personally,I have no desire to reach that stage.I would rather bow out whilst I am still enjoying all the delights of living.

Even if ones health holds up, there are of course other issues.Wealth-or lack of it- is one of them.

The average pension pot in the UK is somewhere around £40,000.That is pitifully low and, at current annuity rates, would deliver less than £2000 a year in pension.That plus the single persons Old Age Pension would total around £8000 a year.Nobody could live well on such a low income.

Many of course rely on their homes as their pension pots.At an average value of less than £200,000, thant could certainly boost income in retirement, if only for a few years.

The answer? Don't retire,if you want to live well.The sums just don't add up.