As news breaks today of the possibility that retiring people may be required to pay as much as £20,000 towards the costs of their health care, is retirement at aged 65 a luxury that we, as a country, can’t afford?
With the charity Age Concern reporting that a third of people reaching the age of 65 cannot financially afford to retire, and the newspapers reporting that a staggering 9 out of 10 of private pension funds don’t have enough money to cover pay outs, more and more people over retirement age are being forced to continue working longer in order to cover their living costs.
As the latest figures show unemployment at the highest rate since 1997, and only looking likely to get worse with more reduncancies on the horizon, it does not look like the figures can add up unless something is done. While I agree that there are those who more than deserve for the country, that they have worked all their lives for, to look after them in the Autumn of their lives. I can’t help but think that maybe with a growing elderly population and the ever-growing unemployment figure that retirement at aged 65 is now a luxury that we, in the current financial climate, cannot afford.