Life Trust launches foundation to raise awareness of longevity

Life Trust has set up an independent foundation to raise awareness and understanding of the financial issues associated with increasing longevity.

The foundation aims to encourage innovation from individuals and institutions to help society deal with the financial impacts stemming from longer life spans.

Board directors include Lord Hunt of Wirral, Help the Aged director general Mike Lake, Aifa deputy director general Fay Goddard and FSA divisional director Anna Bradley.

During its first year, the Foundation intends to work with the Institute of Ageing at the University of Oxford to help inform future research projects and drive action.

It also intends to hold a seminar in the autumn to bring together relevant parties from the worlds of academia, business and charity.

It will set up a consumer panel of people aged 60-85 years-old to help gain and develop insights into the behaviour and attitudes of people who are in the retired, retiring and post-retirement phases of life.

Life Trust Foundation chairman Lord Hunt of Wirral says: "Many people simply do not realise the scale of the financial impacts associated with increasing longevity, and it is precisely this sentiment that lies behind the Foundation's formation. We are today pledging to take a leading role in providing people and institutions with the knowledge they require to face up to the fact we are all living longer. This is not an issue which is going to go away, and we want to play our part in diffusing the ticking time bomb of longevity."

Life Trust Foundation director and CEO of Help the Aged Mike Lake says: "A person aged 55 today has a one in two chance of living to 90 and a one in four chance of living to 95. The fact is that the UK's population is growing older by the day - we are all, on average, living longer - and this has alarming consequences for both society and the individual. More than ever we need to be aware of the implications of living a long life, and a vital part of this is for people to consider their longevity hand-in-hand with their future finances."