The case for a new social contract for retirement – “Alex Wynaendts, CEO of Aegon, outlines the case for a new social contract for retirement and calls for a more positive view on aging. “The need for a new social contract is urgent. People are today living longer than at any other time in history. While this is a cause for celebration, it also poses profound and far-reaching challenges for society.  In many countries, the traditional social contract for retirement – based on the three pillars of social security, workplace retirement benefits and personal savings – is crumbling, and responsibility is shifting fast from governments and employers to individuals.

Perhaps the biggest challenge of all is that we need to ensure the long-term sustainability of social security benefits. Ultimately this requires governments to make difficult financial decisions and trade-offs, such as reducing retirement benefits, raising taxes or increasing the retirement age. What we need is to ensure fairness across generations, reducing the risk of poverty for the elderly now and in the future. In a world in which responsibility for preparing for retirement is shifting, we need to ensure that there is universal access to long-term saving products and services that encourage people to save. By doing so we will be able to serve otherwise vulnerable groups, such as those working on a freelance basis or taking time out of work to care for family and loved ones…”