Retirement has changed as defined benefit plans die and defined contribution plans increase, leaving a good number of financially uneducated people in charge of their 'retirement planning.' (Photo: Shutterstock)

Changes in life expectancy, population growth and retirement savings vehicles are colliding to present a growing dilemma: how to prepare for a retirement that will accommodate longer lifespans, periods of poorer health and a population that is generally ill prepared to save enough for their own retirement.

Not just individuals, but governments and employers must act together as “social partners,” according to a new global retirement readiness survey from the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies and the Aegon Center for Retirement and Longevity, “The New Social Contract: Empowering Individuals in a Transitioning World.”

According to the survey, changes such as the move from defined benefit plans to defined contribution plans are erasing “the long-standing social contract for retirement” as people are overall not up to the challenge of saving enough to see themselves through a longer retirement and at the same time face a longer period of “extra time” at the end of their careers that may be beset by ill health.