As a firm of Chartered Financial Planners in Surrey, we often talk about the negatives of an ageing population.
We are generally living for longer in the UK and this improved longevity can place a great deal of financial strain across the board.
Living for longer means lower pension income, expensive care home fees and smaller inheritances.
It places a greater financial burden on the state, with fewer taxpayers supporting more individuals in retirement.
There is also an upside to an ageing population.
A recent report from Building Futures, the think tank of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), is suggesting a “key role” for the over-60s in creating change and helping the economy in the future.
Building Futures refers to “an increased number of active, healthy members of society approaching (or beyond) retirement, represent a new demographic phenomenon, unique to this period in history; an ‘active Third Age.’”
This active third age could transform declining High Streets by making them a location for community projects.
Buildings could be used for childcare, training and work by the over-60s, with plenty of the active Third Age working part time.
Looking ahead to the High Street of the 2030s, they predict less shopping, more libraries and even pop-up university courses.
They also expect to see more people living in extended families, grandparents providing home-based childcare and homes based around shared gardens and communal growing of food.
In addition to a rejuvenated High Street, the report suggests that the active Third Age could be a catalyst for wholesale rebirth in seaside towns.
