Skip to main content
Home
  • About us
    • Who we are
      • Our history
      • Our customers
      • Our brand
      • Art at Aegon
    • What we do
      • Our businesses
      • Our strategy
      • Integrated Annual Report
    • Governance
      • Executive Board
      • Management Board
      • Supervisory Board
      • Compliance
      • Governance documents
  • Investors
    • General
      • Analyst consensus
      • Annual reports
      • Financial calendar
      • Financial results
      • Aegon and IFRS 17
      • Aegon NL and a.s.r.
      • Presentations archive
    • Capital & liquidity
      • About debt programs
      • Debt program Aegon N.V.
      • Debt program Aegon Bank N.V.
      • Dividend
      • Ratings
      • Share buyback program
    • Shareholders & AGM
      • Annual General Meeting
      • Extraordinary General Meeting
      • Retail shareholders
      • Share price tool
      • Contact investor relations
  • Newsroom
    • News
      • News Updates
      • Press releases Aegon N.V.
      • Press releases Aegon Bank N.V.
    • Media relations
      • Contact media relations
      • Media kit
  • Sustainability
    • Focus themes
      • Climate change
      • Inclusion & diversity
    • Our approach
      • Ambition & governance
      • Commitments, ratings & recognition
      • Reports & policies library
    • Stakeholder value
      • Responsible investment
      • Responsible tax
      • Community investments
      • Government & policy affairs
      • Human rights
      • Responsible procurement
      • Customer experience
      • Engaged workforce
  • Careers
  • Aegon country websites

    Select another Aegon website from the list of links below.
    • country flag
      Aegon Poland
    • country flag
      Aegon Life (India)
    • country flag
      Transamerica (USA)
    • country flag
      Aegon Spain
    • country flag
      Mongeral Aegon (Brazil)
    • country flag
      Aegon Asset Management
    • country flag
      Aegon THTF (China)
    • country flag
      Aegon Romania
    • country flag
      Aegon United Kingdom
    • country flag
      Aegon The Netherlands
  • Filters
    Article Type

Aegon urges collective action on a new social contract for retirement

May 20, 2019, 10:08 CEST
3 minutes

Breadcrumb

  1. News & updates

“How we prepare for older age in the 21st century is one of our greatest opportunities and most pressing issues. Collective action by individuals, governments, and employers is needed to modernize retirement systems. Empowering and supporting individuals to take greater control over their retirement security is a cornerstone of a new social contract for retirement,” Alex Wynaendts, CEO of Aegon, told attendees at the OECD Forum in Paris.

"We can help billions of people around the world achieve a secure retirement. The sooner we roll up our sleeves and get started, the sooner we can effect positive change."

The annual OECD Forum stimulates discussion and searches for answers to key economic and social challenges facing the world. This 2-day public engagement event gathers high-level government representatives, CEOs, leaders from civil society and trade unions as well as prominent members of academia and media.

Speaking during the panel discussion, Towards a New Societal Contract?, Mr. Wynaendts said that increases in longevity present the human race with the gift of extra time. "This gift requires engaging our imaginations and rethinking our life priorities and continuum, including how much time we spend in the workforce relative to retirement."

Increases in longevity combined with lower birth rates have also created a major societal challenge. Populations in countries around the world are growing older and, as a result, social security and other government benefits are under tremendous financial strain. Reforms are urgently needed and will take time to implement. In the meantime, people cannot afford to delay their retirement preparations.

The report

Mr. Wynaendts highlighted the findings and recommendations of Aegon's new research report, The New Social Contract: Empowering individuals in a transitioning world. The report explores people's retirement preparations including the need to remain in paid employment longer, stay physically and mentally active, maintain good health, and have the ability to remain in their own home and communities throughout their lives. It presents a holistic approach to retirement planning and outlines the Five Fundamentals for Retirement Readiness, which are action steps people can and should be taking right now. The report calls for collective action and provides specific recommendations for governments, employers, industry, and other social partners to begin building a new social contract for retirement.

The New Social Contract: Empowering individuals in a transitioning world is based on the eighth Annual Aegon Retirement Readiness survey of 14,400 workers and 1,600 retired people across 15 countries spanning Europe, the Americas, Asia and Australia. It is a collaboration among Aegon Center for Longevity and Retirement and nonprofits Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies® (TCRS) and Instituto de Longevidade Mongeral Aegon.

The report builds on the 2018 report, The New Social Contract: A blueprint for retirement in the 21st century, which creates a call to action and outlines nine essential design features for modernizing retirement systems based on the premise that everyone should have the opportunity to retire with dignity.

Aegon CEO Alex Wynaendts in an interview with CNBC

Watch an interview Alex Wynaendts recorded with CNBC at the OECD in Paris

Join the debate by following the hashtag #TheNewSocialContract

Related links

Interview with CNBC

Contact

  • Media relations
  • Investor relations
  • About us
    • Who we are
    • What we do
    • Governance
    • Contact Aegon
  • Investors
    • General
    • Capital & liquidity
    • Shareholders & AGM
  • Newsroom
    • News
    • Media relations
  • Sustainability
    • Our focus themes
    • Our approach
    • Stakeholder value
  • Careers
    • Vacancy search
    • Working at Aegon
Site logo
  • Privacy statement
  • Cookie statement
  • Accessibility
  • Disclaimer
  • General terms and conditions
Aegon ©2023