Healthy life expectancy Is ‘flat-lining’, according to Prudential.

“People realise that living longer may mean they will need a higher income as they get older, but few of them have made the connection between the risk of ill-health, and needing money to pay for healthcare,” said Vince Smith-Hughes, retirement spokesperson at Prudential.

“Just 20% of people retiring this year have set aside money for any long-term care needs and this drops to 16% among those aged 65-plus. Less than half of this year’s retirees have planned for the fact that they may need more income in retirement as they get older.”

Smith-Hughes added: “Funding for long-term care has never been more important as healthy life expectancy is flat-lining. Average life expectancy for men over the age of 65 is 17.6 years, and 20.2 years for women but healthy life expectancy is just 9.9 years for men and 11.5 years for women.

“Making financial provision for the possibility of ill-health in retirement should be an integral part of the retirement planning process.”