Brits worried about financing retirement years

Over half of Britons (54%) claim they would be worried about their ability to finance their retirement if they were to live for 10 years longer than today's average life span of 82 years according to research by Life Trust Insurance Plc.

It warns that increased longevity could see many people needing to rethink their finances for later life as they continue to underestimate their own life expectancy. The likelihood that people will live to an advanced age is increasing due to the dramatic rise in longevity.

Increasing longevity is now a fact of life, people are living longer than ever before - a trend which continues to rise. A person aged 50 today has a one in two (47%) chance of reaching 90 and a one in ten (10%) chance of reaching 100 - eight and 18 years respectively more than the average UK life expectancy.

This adds additional pressure to an already existing concern for many about their finances. 40% of people questioned said they were worried about financing their retirement if they were to live for the average life span.

Many people are just not considering the implications of living to advanced ages as they organise their finances and this could lead to people having to change their plans once they reach retirement age to provide additional income for their later years. When faced with the possibility of living ten years longer than the average those questioned said that they would have to adapt their finances and working lives accordingly. While a fifth (22%) would take advantage of a longer life to keep working because they enjoyed it, a further quarter (28%) claimed they would need to keep working simply to ensure they had financial stability.

However it is not all doom and gloom, Britons are looking forward to these additional years when they hope to spend time seeing great grand children growing up (36%), and potentially travelling the world (24%).

Andy Briscoe, CEO, Life Trust, commented: "We're all living longer than ever before, which should be seen as an opportunity not a burden. But we continue to see a real disconnect between people's perception of retirement, in terms of length and aspirations, and the money they have set aside to pay for it. People need to really consider what they want to achieve in these years and put plans in place to ensure they can afford it."

For more information about Life Trust and the company's inaugural product, the Longevity Income Plan, which pays out more the longer you live, visit lifetrust.com.