Life expectancy 'poses pension problems'

The increasing life expectancy of UK citizens is a major challenge for the pension industry in the future, it has been claimed.Life insurance and pensions organisation, AEGON Group, has warned that the UK pension pot is already facing significant pressure because of the increasing longevity of Britons and this situation is only going to get worse in the future.Rachel Vahey, head of pensions development at AEGON, explained: "If you go back to 1911, at that point there were only 100 people in the UK who were aged 100 years or over. In 2006, that figure was 9,000, and it’s expected to increase to 40,000 people by 2031."She added: "That's a lot of pressure to put on the state pension."Research conducted by Tickbox in July of last year on a sample base of 1,268 UK adults revealed 20 per cent of people have no pension and 46 per cent said that, when it comes to money, they live for today.However, AEGON is warning the public that such an attitude could leave them in financial ruin in the future, because the state pension alone will be unlikely to be able to support their retirement.