Vince Smith-Hughes of Prudential says, "People realise
that living longer may mean they will need a higher income as they get older,
but few of them have made the connection between the risk of ill-health, and
needing money to pay for healthcare. Just 20 % of people retiring this year
have set aside money for any long-term care needs and this drops to 16% among
those over 65. Less than half of this year's retirees have planned for the fact
that they may need more income in retirement, as they get older. Funding for
long-term care has never been more important as healthy life expectancy is flat
lining. Average life expectancy for men over the age of 65 is 17.6 years, and
20.2 years for women but healthy life expectancy is just 9.9 years for men and
11.5 years for women. Making financial provision for the possibility of
ill-health in retirement should be an integral part of the retirement planning
process."
