Bringing retirement into focus 2024: Latest retirement insight

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The fourth edition of Standard Life’s flagship insight report, Bringing Retirement into Focus, arrives at a pivotal moment for the retirement journey in Ireland. Against a backdrop of economic uncertainty, an evolving regulatory environment, and landmark moments like the long-awaited arrival of Auto-enrolment, our latest research explores how ready people are for retirement, highlighting factors that are holding some people back from embracing and planning for retirement with confidence.  

As financial advisers, you know that retirement planning is far from a one-size-fits all approach and we continue to create this report with that understanding in mind. Our aim is to provide a rich understanding of the retirement journey in Ireland, highlighting the nuanced challenges and experiences people face so that together we can deliver better client outcomes.  

Like previous reports, Bringing retirement into Focus: 2024 explores the role of advice, and the influence of Gender, Generation, and Geography on retirement readiness, sharing compelling insights alongside actionable takeaways and tailored resources.

Retirement readiness

At the heart of the report is our definition of retirement readiness. Through our research, we determine a combination of three key dimensions that indicate a person’s likelihood to look forward to and live a fulfilling retirement.   

• Financially ready – the cornerstone of a good retirement is financial wellbeing. A good financial plan affords a person the freedom to choose how they spend their retirement - the greatest gift we can give our future selves. As highlighted later in this article, the research shows that those who feel positive about their finances are happier in retirement. 
   
• Socially ready – work provides a social outlet and is often linked to our identities, and these can be compromised when we stop working fully. There’s a wealth of evidence that shows how valuable social interaction is to overall wellbeing and remaining socially connected in retirement is essential to our happiness. 
   
• Mentally ready – we generally spend the greater part of our lives working. The routine, structure, and stimulation ensure we are purposefully busy. On average, a person can free up to 2,000 hours* a year when they stop fulltime work. Without forward planning, this can be a very difficult adjustment and can negatively impact wellbeing in retirement. 

The advantage of advice

It will come as no surprise to readers that planning is a critical factor in retirement readiness. We continue to see clear distinctions between three groups – non-planners, planners, and advised planners. Non-planners, as the name suggests have no plan in place, are the most likely to lack a pension and feel significantly unprepared for retirement. Planners, who report having some form of retirement plan, are more likely to have a pension and feel better prepared across all three retirement readiness dimensions. For advised planners – those who regularly engage with financial advice – readiness across all indicators improves significantly. Advised planners are more empowered and optimistic about their present day and the possibilities ahead.

The generational paradox: confidence in retirement planning isn’t just a matter of age

Conventional wisdom suggests confidence grows with age, but our findings show a more complex story playing out in the retirement journey. Baby Boomers alongside Gen Z, the youngest generation show higher levels of financial confidence than Millennials and Gen X. More than 1 in 3 (36%) Gen Z say they have a plan for retirement and more than 2 in 5 (44%) Baby Boomers feel financially ready. Meanwhile, more than half (51%) of Millennials and 46% of Gen X feel financially unprepared. What’s driving this mid-life confidence dip? Well, mid-life living – these are the years where financial pressures peak as middle generations are significantly more likely to juggle debt and mortgage repayments with childcare and funding their children’s education, while also trying to prioritise their pension.

For those with no structured support, the pay-off is inevitably diminished confidence in the pension and heightened stress. Advisers can add value to those experiencing the ‘squeezed middle’ through empathetic planning that prioritises regular reassurance and communication, as well as tools and resources that create greater bandwidth for personal financial planning.   

Shifting gender dynamics present opportunities for advisers

While the gender gap persists with women trailing men across all three retirement readiness indicators, this year’s findings show positive momentum. More women are prioritising their pensions and taking proactive steps to long-term planning. In fact, women were as likely as men to be prioritising maximising their contributions in 2024. More than 1 in 7 women (15%) were prioritising maximising their pension in 2024 (+5% from 2023). And yet challenges remain –  particularly around confidence and communication – driving significant action gaps between men and women. Women remain far less comfortable talking about money and are less likely to seek financial advice. Understanding that conversations influence action, we created The Ultimate Guide for Women and Pensions podcast to help demystify pensions and use relatable, entertaining storytelling to influence more women to take action for their financial future.

If you haven’t done so already, listen to season one now on standardlife.ie, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts and share with clients, friends, and family, to hear refreshing perspectives and tangible takeaways on how women can be supported on the retirement journey. Watch out for season two, launching in the coming weeks. It promises to be just as impactful with a line-up of guests ready to share stories, insight, and expertise.  

Mapping readiness: where you are continues to shape how you retire

As seen in previous years, retirement readiness is shaped by the community and culture surrounding us as social, mental, and financial readiness differs from city to coast. Connacht and Ulster continue to lead the way in social readiness, with adults more likely to feel socially and mentally prepared for retirement than elsewhere in Ireland. This is a trend we’ve continued to see over the years and so recently we ran in-depth focus groups with pre-retirees and retirees across Connacht and Munster to explore and examine the influence of community, culture, and rural living on the retirement experience.

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In contrast, Dubliners continue to be highly engaged with financial planning and are financially confident but emotional readiness lags. Nearly 2 in 5 (37%) say they find the idea of retirement unappealing, suggesting a more transactional approach to their second lives. These regional contrasts reinforce the growing opportunity to adopt a more holistic, human approach to planning. Modern retirement planning goes beyond the numbers – while feeling financially ready is vital, it’s equally about feeling ready to live your second life with purpose, connection, and confidence.

Bringing the regional retirement view into focus sparks significant interest every year particularly amongst local media and starts compelling conversations at Standard Life’s in-person second life evenings with advisers and clients. We’re deeply social beings, wired to look for social proof in moments of uncertainty. Leveraging local insight taps into this, showing clients that their peers are navigating similar challenges and opportunities and it’s a powerful nudge to encourage clients to take action.  

Bringing retirement into focus is a culmination of a year’s worth of Standard Life’s Voice of the Retiree research – a programme of work that brings the real experiences and attitudes of those navigating retirement planning to life. Through a combination of surveys and focus groups, we engaged over 5,220 people spanning generations and at different stages of the planning journey. The Voice of the Retiree is central to our purpose at Standard Life. We work with financial advisers to help more people on their journey to and through retirement.

This report brings that purpose into sharp focus, highlighting that financial confidence, planning and readiness are deeply personal – and deeply shaped by context. Packed with practical insights and expert tips, Bringing retirement into focus is a valuable resource for advisers seeking to strengthen client relationships and lead conversations that empower more people toward greater retirement readiness.

Find out more, visit our Bringing retirement into focus page. 

A version of this article is available to read in the April 2025 edition of Irish Broker Magazine.