Securing retirement: what makes a strong retirement system
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Retirement systems were built for a different era. Longevity realities, workforce insights, and plan design choices that help build better retirement.
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Elvin Tharm
Head of Emerging Markets Asia Retirement
Retirement is a decades-long journey. We focus on helping our customers to take meaningful steps today to achieve better retirement outcomes — confidence today, sustainable income tomorrow, and resilience for longer.
People are living longer, making retirement a decades-long phase that requires more than a “finish-line” balance. Many retirement systems weren’t built for this, leaving workers exposed to longevity, inflation, market swings, and surprises – especially when retirement comes earlier than planned.
Employers can help by making saving easy, keeping workers appropriately invested, and turning savings into sustainable income. Strong plans expand access, combine flexibility with smart defaults and guardrails, and provide guidance – measuring progress in income terms so employees know what their savings can deliver.
Key facts:
- 1.6 billion people aged 65+ by 2050 — Asia account for nearly two-thirds of that population.
- Retirement last 30 to 40 years now so success is 'income sustainability', not just a retirement date.
- Replacement rates fall below 50% of pre-retirement income, leaving a real adequacy gap.
- 1 in 2 retirees exit earlier than planned — the plan must be resilient to evolving life-stages.