Nic Palmarini, Director, National Innovation Centre for Ageing
Never have five generations found themselves simultaneously sitting around the same dinner table, nodding along to the same songs (played by bands of octogenarian rockers) or standing in line at the same supermarket checkouts. It may not be the norm just yet, but with longer lives, it’s a future we can all increasingly imagine.
Extended lifespan is an emerging reality. The orderly progression from education to career to retirement - a structure that seemed as permanent as it was universal - is changing its shape before our eyes.
These factors suggest we must radically revise retirement’s meanings and impacts. The issue of a longevity society is not only demographic - it’s a question of awareness, culture, preparation and adaptation.
As individuals, we are rethinking what it means to age meaningfully. And for organisations, this presents a pivotal opportunity - and responsibility - to understand, and support, a decisive shift: helping people become ‘longevity relevant’ - relevant for themselves, to those they love, and to the society they are a part of. If we started asking ourselves, “Who and what will our future self be?”, we would realise this is more than a rhetorical question asked to our inner self; it’s central to the sustainability of future pension systems too.
The answer may seem obvious: be healthy and autonomous, surrounded by meaningful connections, and play an active role in society. Who wouldn’t want this for themselves?
Fidelity’s research highlights the four key pillars that underpin those answers: emotional wellbeing and social connectivity enabled through our physical health and sustained by financial stability. When finances are secure, the other pillars are easier to sustain. When they are not, the entire structure is weakened.
Building this architecture, which supports and nourishes our future self, is a journey of continuous micro and macro transitions and adaptations. Balancing and understanding our economic, social and physical dimensions should be an everyday exercise that we must learn to infuse into our lives much earlier.
With a longer future ahead, we also have more options, but only if we start building them today. Longevity represents an unprecedented opportunity calling for innovative design. Now is the time to design thoughtfully, act deliberately, and make this extra time count.
