Press release

SAGA SUPPORTS CALL FOR A NATIONAL RETIREMENT SERVICE

Friday 29 June 2012

Saga has long championed the need to rethink the whole concept of retirement.

Millions of older people around the country have plenty of skills, talent and energy which are at risk of being wasted, as the traditional concept of retirement is often considered inevitable. This need not be the case.

Saga offers its support for the key recommendation of the “Next Steps: Life Transitions and retirement in the 21st Century” report, from Lord Wei and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, to pilot a National Retirement Service.

Dr Ros Altmann, Director-General of Saga comments:

"The idea of a National Retirement Service is important because it can help promote better later lives for the rapidly rising numbers of older people in the UK. In our later years, it is much better to keep active - this can involve working part-time, volunteering or caring for others.

“We are currently wasting valuable resources as millions of older people may find they are not using the skills they’ve acquired throughout their lives. By embracing and in fact welcoming the opportunities of working during part of these bonus years, we can help boost our ailing economy,
ensure less reliance on the state and ultimately make retirement more fulfilling.

“The old fashioned concept of retirement does not fit well with 21st century realities - we need to rethink retirement.”