My great granny lived until she was 103 (well into her ‘golden years’).  I remember her 100th birthday clearly.  She spent the last 7 years of her life in a care home in Plaistow (in East London) and the home she stayed in threw her a party for her 100th birthday with a pearly king and queen, tea and cakes and a huge fuss was made of the telegram she received from the queen to commemorate her birthday.

I was ten years old at the time and at that age used to think that anyone over 21 was old! I didn’t realise how monumental reaching your hundredth birthday was.  So I went along, enjoyed the party (and the fuss made of me by the home’s residents) and whilst I think about it from time to time, I don’t consider it regularly.

The memory of my great grans birthday came back to me today when I was working on a clients case and found the need to take a look at the ONS (Office of National Statistics) website.

I then saw a report which caught my eye (and bought back the memories of my great grans party)…. ‘What are the chances of living to 100?’ – so I decided to take a look and share the reports findings together with my thoughts:-

The report stated that:-

*  If you are 65 in 2012, just over one in ten (11.7%) of you are expected to survive to celebrate your 100th birthday.

*  If you are 40 in 2012, just under one in five (19%) of you are expected to survive until 100.

*  If you are 20 in 2012, just over one in four (26.8%) of you are expected to live until 100.

*  Around one third of babies born in 2012 are expected to survive to celebrate their 100th birthday.

It’s an undeniable fact that we are all living longer.  In the UK we have access to better (and more technologically advanced) healthcare than ever before and are generally living healthier lives.

I love the fact that we are living longer.  It gives us the opportunity to spend more time doing the things we love.  For me it’s travel, and spending time with my family and I’m optimistic about the additional time I’ll have to do this.

However the feasibility of my plans (and probably yours) when I approach the golden years of my life are based on one thing.  Money.  If we are all living longer can we afford the lives we’ve worked hard for all of our lives?  After all it’s likely the amount we need to accumulate during our working life needs to be far greater to ensure that we can continue to live the life we want for the additional years we are expected to live.

So, how do we ensure we have enough money to live the life we want in those formative years considering the fact that these years are now lasting longer than ever before.  Whilst there’s no ‘magic bullet’ answer the odds are you’ll have to do one of these two things.

1)  Save more whilst you’re working

2)  Continue working for longer than you previously assumed.

After all, like my great gran, the odds of you receiving the telegram from the queen is more and more likely.  You owe it to yourself to decide how you’re going to afford to live the life you want in these golden years.

As ever I’m always interest in hearing your thoughts.  What’s your plan?  Do you intend to save more whilst you’re working….or are comfortable with continuing to work into your retirement?