<p>The sixth age shifts<br> </p><p>Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,<br> </p><p>With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,<br> </p><p>His youthful hose well saved, a world too wide<br> </p><p>For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,<br> </p><p>Turning again toward childish treble, pipes<br> </p><p>And whistles in his sound.</p> </p><p> </p><p><p>Today's Ѭean and slippered pantaloons' are certainly different to their Shakespearean predecessors. Neither foolish nor doddery, they are instead far better off than even their most </p><p>recent counterparts. Those currently at or approaching retirement will receive the most generous state pensions of any generation, and will also have gone through their working </p><p>lives in a period of high growth in real wages and real asset prices, both in housing and the stock market.</p>
Authors
![James Banks](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2022-06/James_Banks.jpg?itok=EvmV7fKj)
CPP Co-Director
James is Senior Research Fellow and Professor of Economics at Manchester, working on broad issues in the economics of retirement, savings and health.
![Carl Emmerson](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2022-06/Carl_Emmerson.jpg?itok=6jM06LTY)
Deputy Director
Carl, a Deputy Director, is an editor of the IFS Green Budget, is expert on the UK pension system and sits on the Social Security Advisory Committee.
![Person graphic](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2022-06/IFS-person-graphic.png?itok=hWCtTSrz)
Head of Data Services
Zoe is Head of Data Services. She joined the IFS in 1998 as a researcher and moved into Data Services in 2011.
Report details
- Publisher
- Economic and Social Research Council
Suggested citation
J, Banks and C, Emmerson and Z, Oldfield. (2004). Not so brief lives: longevity expectations and wellbeing in retirement. Swindon: Economic and Social Research Council. Available at: https://ifs.org.uk/publications/not-so-brief-lives-longevity-expectations-and-wellbeing-retirement (accessed: 3 July 2024).
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