What caught my eye this week.
If you traveled back to the year 1900 and told people that, in 125 years, adults would live 30 years longer than they did, the late Victorians would be astonished—and likely envious.
Another three decades to work, rest, and play!
Think of all those extra Saturdays down the mines or in the sweatshop factories they’d enjoy. And all those extra lumps of coal for Christmas.
Well here we are in 2025 – expecting to live into our 80s and almost all with lives of far less physical hardship – and yet it’s rare to read a story about increasing longevity that isn’t tainted with doom.
I agree politicians would struggle to deliver a good news message about a population of older yet healthier citizens remaining productive for many more years. Disinformation is off the charts today.
And yet as Andrew Oxlade writes in This Is Money this week:
Research cited in the IMF’s World Economic Outlook, based on samples in 41 countries, suggested the average 70-year-old in 2022 had the same cognitive ability as a 53-year-old in 2000.
It is a remarkable improvement for such a short period. The report, published last month, suggested such improvements mean those employed at 70 see a 30 per cent uplift in earnings.
Oxlade explores the financial implications of longer and more productive lives. Like myself, he doesn’t see getting out of work entirely as always the best goal for most people – or even a possibility for many.
But having a decent Chasing Cows fund brings more than just an all-out card:
Optionality can help future-proof you from the stick of rising pension ages. And it is always good to have options, as you don’t know how you will feel about life and work in the future.
In any event it’s hard to see – and given the implications, you wouldn’t want to see – State pension ages not being higher in the future.
Still crazy after all these years
Indeed Denmark has just raised its retirement age to 70 – the highest in Europe.
The BBC reports:
Since 2006, Denmark has tied the official retirement age to life expectancy and has revised it every five years. It is currently 67 but will rise to 68 in 2030 and to 69 in 2035.
The retirement age at 70 will apply to all people born after 31 December 1970.
Meanwhile the age at which you can claim a UK state pension will start to rise again next year. It will hit 67 by March 2028.
I’m caught squarely by the move, unlike my co-blogger the wizened old Accumulator. He’s just snuck under the wire.
Good for me! Personally I’ll be delighted at having to wait a couple more years to access my State pension if that’s the cost of having a few more years to enjoy this beautiful planet.
Cynics will retort that I say this from a position of privilege. I’ve got my (hard saved and carefully invested…) capital at my back. I don’t expect to retire into near-poverty after a hard life of earning nothing much.
That’s true. But firstly to some extent you make your own luck – we all understand around here the power of saving even small amounts over a lifetime. (Remember the Tin Can millionaire? He was Swedish, incidentally.)
Secondly, I’m not convinced that the happiest people are always those with the most money.
We all know counterexamples – people who seem to get by on little more than thin air with a relish for life – albeit I’d rather not take my chances with them!
Your mileage may vary. Fair enough. But do you really want to be thinking like the person quoted in The Guardian headline this week who called the pressure to delay retirement: “Ludicrous and unfair”?
From the article:
Although some thought the IMF’s idea was good, an overwhelming majority expressed outrage, typically describing the concept that older people should retire later to ease fiscal pressures as “disgusting”, “ludicrous” and “unfair”.
“Seventy is not the new 50. That’s propaganda,” said a 63-year-old NHS admin worker from Dundee. “Having worked since the age of 18, retirement cannot come soon enough for me. I find travelling for work stressful and long for a time when my days are my own. I am tired.”
For many more working class people, retirement will indeed be a relief.
But I question whether it will be the panacea they hope for, given they’re mostly going to be financially pressured, and that in at least some cases they lacked the imagination to see it coming for the past four decades.
It’s a great thing we’re living longer, healthier lives. Let’s plan for it and look forward to it.
Let’s invest as if we’ll make it to 100!
Have a great weekend.
From Monevator
Investing for beginners: risk versus reward – Monevator
Buying The Living is Yield-y: a natural yield model portfolio – Monevator
From the archive-ator: Why you should write a will – Monevator
News
The FT no longer allows access to articles via search. Paywalled articles noted.
UK inflation surges to 3.5% on April bills shock… – Sky
…but typical energy bill will fall by £129 from July, says Ofgem – Sky
Starmer confirms U-turn on winter fuel payment cuts – Guardian
Trump threatens 50% tariffs on EU and 25% on smartphones – BBC
Reeves suggests no cut to total £20,000 ISA limit, but cash ISAs still in play – This Is Money
Londoners working from home could boost pension pot by £236,000 – City AM
Moody’s downgrades US credit rating, citing growth in government debt – CNBC
UK’s 50 richest families own more wealth than 50% of the population, study finds – Guardian
Kensington and Chelsea house prices fall to lowest level since 2013 [Paywall] – FT
Brexit episode 34394394939 mini-special
New trade deal to reset relations with EU… – Sky
…almost a decade after Brexit nearly broke them – CNN
…though predicted £9bn boost is only a 0.3% offset to the long-run 4% p.a. hit to GDP [Paywall] – FT
…and success will depend on whether promises are delivered – Sky
…because, like octopus, the latest UK-EU deal is a mixing blessing – BBC
Recall 55% of Britons polled in January thought Brexit a mistake. Only 11% saw success – YouGov
Products and services
UK’s first new current account in three years pays 3.25% – T.I.M.
A closer look at two new 100% mortgages – Which
Mortgage rates ‘set to creep up’ on jump in UK inflation – Property Industry Eye
Get up to £1,500 cashback when you transfer your cash and/or investments through this link. Terms apply – Charles Stanley
Mastercard to pay out £100m to millions of customers – This Is Money
Are private medical insurance perks worth it? – Which
Santander axes debit card cashback – Be Clever With Your Cash
Get up to £4,000 when you transfer your ISA to InvestEngine our link. (Minimum deposit of £100, other T&Cs apply. Capital at risk) – InvestEngine
UK-wide parking app to be rolled out after pilot scheme – Guardian
The best restaurant discount restaurants and apps – B.C.W.Y.C.
Homes for sale with access to coastal paths, in pictures – Guardian
Comment and opinion
Innovation and stock market bubbles – Verdad
Owners of second homes in Wales are having to sell up. That’s a godsend – Guardian
Teach kids about money early – Humble Dollar
You can’t put a price on mental freedom – Of Dollars and Data
30 great quotes from financial history – CFA Institute
How sequence risk can derail your retirement, with Wade Pfau [Video] – YouTube
Scar tissue – Best Interest
Life is about trade-offs – A Wealth of Common Sense
The (still) Simple Path to Wealth [Podcast] – Morningstar
New international standards coming measuring GDP and inflation – K.O.I.
Government bond mini-rout mini-special
Why the bond market is barfing – Axios
New 30-year gilt pays 5.375% – This Is Money
The curse of understanding finance – We’re Gonna Get Those Bastards
Why interest rates are shooting up all around the world [Podcast] – Bloomberg
The bond market is not amused – The Bond Dad
The Japanese government bond market is in trouble [Paywall] – FT
Naughty corner: Active antics
The hardest day to invest is always today – Ted Seides
S&P 500’s earnings momentum brightens as tariff-induced cuts dwindle – Sherwood
Create a Python script to automate portfolio rebalancing [Research, nerdy] – SSRN
Strict rules haven’t helped this market-timing ETF [US but interesting] – Morningstar
Kindle book bargains
Hype Machine: Inside the Cult of Crypto by Joshua Oliver – £0.99 on Kindle
The Price of Money by Rob Dix – £0.99 on Kindle
The Great Crashes: Lessons from Global Meltdowns by Linda Yueh – £0.99 on Kindle
Failed State: Why Britain Doesn’t Work by Sam Freedman – £0.99 on Kindle
Or pick up one of the all-time great investing classics – Monevator shop
Environmental factors
The right’s opposition to renewables is anti-scientific and anti-economic – Paul Krugman
Using thermal drones to help protect Australian tree kangaroos – Yahoo
How an idealistic tree-planting project turned into Kenya’s toxic, thorny nightmare – Guardian
Batteries that absorb carbon emissions one step closer – The Conversation
Robot overlord roundup
The siren song of advertising – Generative Value
AI and work: some predictions – Cal Newport
The Agentic Web and original sin – Stratechery
AI agents will do the grunt work of coding – Axios
China has taught AI to lie – Pete Warden [h/t Abnormal Returns]
Not at the dinner table
Is the US a ‘high-level equilibrium trap’? – Noahpinion
Trump orders the government to stop enforcing rules he doesn’t like – W.P. via MSN
Guess who’s coming to dinner with $TRUMP – Sherwood
Off our beat
Man in Norway wakes to find huge container ship in his garden – BBC
The value of institutional memory – Tim Harford
Nobody reads – We’re Gonna Get Those Bastards
Inside China’s ‘stolen iPhone building’ [Paywall] – FT
Why money and power affects male self-esteem – BBC
How one tiny ancient language spread across the world – Slate
Turn every page – Brad Feld
“They’re not paying me enough to care” – Seth Godin
And finally…
“Never buy anything from someone who is out of breath.”
– Burton Malkiel, A Random Walk Down Wall Street
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