While the focus of EML’s research is understanding living longer it is important to say that, at an individual level, life remains a lottery and there are no guarantees.

Most of the change we describe reflect a change of expectation. Be it pension funds ‘expecting’ their members to be around longer, the Health Service expecting to treat an increasingly aged population or a younger generation watching their ‘inheritance’ being swallowed by increasingly elaborate bucket lists – the basis on which many of our ‘life plans’ were drawn has changed.

When Bismark gave us a state retirement age of 65 he never actually expected anyone to claim a pension – life expectancy in Germany at the time was under 50. Today the UK average Life expectancy is around 82. The state pension fund was never designed to pay out 17 years of pension – change is inevitable….