The new retirement challenge: Preparing for a longer future

This article is produced in partnership with Manulife John Hancock Retirement

Rethinking what it means to prepare for retirement

For years, the retirement industry has asked whether plan participants will have enough money to retire. That remains essential—but it’s only part of the picture.

People aren’t just living longer—they’re retiring longer. The average U.S. life expectancy is 79, and the population age 100 and older is expected to quadruple over the next 30 years. At the same time, more than half of retirees stopped working eight years earlier than planned, at an average age of 56.

That changes an already difficult retirement equation. People may have fewer years to save, more years to fund, and more decisions to navigate along the way. For financial professionals, it raises a bigger question: Are we helping people prepare to retire, or preparing them for the realities of a longer life?

Retirement readiness needs a wider lens

Financial security will always be central to retirement planning. And as people live longer, we have an opportunity to widen the conversation about what it really means to be ready.

Saving and investing are important parts of that conversation—but there are also many nonfinancial decisions that can shape life in retirement. Who will provide care if it's needed? Will the family home still work if health or mobility needs change? What will provide purpose and connection after work?

These are questions that financial professionals can help people think about sooner. The answers can influence when someone retires, what retirement costs, and how well they experience the years ahead. And the earlier they start considering them, the more time they have to prepare.

Our research with the MIT AgeLab offers a window into how prepared Americans are for longer lives. The latest Longevity Preparedness Index puts the overall score at 60 out of 100 for the second year in a row, measuring a low level of preparedness across eight areas, including finance, health, care, housing, social connection, and life transitions.

But one of the most revealing findings isn't the score. More than half of Americans said answering the questions made them think about issues they hadn't considered before.

That’s worth paying attention to. People can't prepare for what they haven't considered.

Guidance can help turn awareness into action

Awareness is an important first step. The opportunity is to build on it by helping people turn new insights into actions that better prepare them for the years ahead. And financial professionals can play an important role in making that happen.

People who work with a financial professional score almost 30% higher on longevity preparedness than those who don't. And preparedness is even higher when financial professionals actively discuss longevity planning.

The message isn't that financial professionals need to become experts in healthcare, housing, or caregiving. Instead, they can help people see how those issues connect to their financial lives and start important conversations before decisions become urgent.

What could cause someone to retire sooner than planned? Where do they expect to live as they age? Who might provide care if they need it? How could caring for someone else affect their own retirement?

These conversations shouldn’t wait until retirement is around the corner. A participant in midlife may already be balancing retirement saving with children and aging parents. Someone earlier in their career is establishing financial and health habits that could affect them for decades to come.

Financial professionals can help sponsors bring these questions into retirement education, connect participants with benefits and resources already available to them, and turn distant concerns into manageable next steps.

The goal isn't to give people more to worry about. It’s about helping them understand what’s ahead and giving them more time to prepare.

Redefining retirement readiness for a longer life

The retirement industry has made enormous progress helping people accumulate assets. Longer lives don't make that work less important. They give it greater context.

Saving enough will always matter. But it should be part of a broader conversation: What are you saving for? What could change along the way? And what can you do today to be better prepared?

For financial professionals, that's an opportunity to bring new value to retirement conversations while keeping financial security at the center. Because in a world of longer lives, retirement readiness isn't only about whether people’s savings will last. It’s about helping them prepare for the life those savings are meant to support.

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