#10 Longevity and population aging

The biggest economic challenge of the coming decades may not be technology, inflation, or geopolitics. It could be the demographics. As the population ages and the workforce shrinks, businesses, governments, and markets face a profound transformation with consequences for growth, wages, and economic stability.

Increased longevity is quietly transforming the structure of modern societies. With longer lifespans and fewer births, Europe faces an aging population that is no longer just a demographic trend, but an economic factor with a direct impact on growth, public finances, and how capital is invested and distributed.

With the Portuguese living longer and longer, Ana Carriso explains why financial preparedness has become one of the pillars of active aging and presents the main conclusions of an international study that reveals that many are still not prepared for a longer retirement.

How much of your salary will last until the end of the month? The answer to this question reveals much more than just your consumption habits: It helps measure your financial security, your ability to cope with unforeseen events, and even your contribution to the economy. That is precisely what the savings rate shows.

Living longer is one of humanity's greatest achievements. But this good news brings with it an inevitable question: Will we be prepared to finance, both physically and emotionally, a life that could extend for decades after retirement?

Consumption rarely ends at the moment the expense occurs: in practice, it is an ongoing negotiation between the present and the future. With every financial decision, individuals choose not only what they can consume today, but also what they are willing to postpone to ensure stability and well-being later on. It is within this balance, made up of expectations, constraints, and uncertainty, that intertemporal consumption is situated.