This month, the UK's coalition government announced plans to speed up the process of raising the state pension age from its current 65.
By as early as 2016, the state pension age for men may be raised to 66, with ministers looking to extend it as high as 70 beyond in the following decades.
The move reflects not only the UK's current economic climate - one that will see £6.
2bn worth of cuts introduced in June's Emergency Budget - but its changing demographic.
Conservative Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith, in charge of pensions policy, cited the UK's ever-increasing life expectancy as a factor in the decision.
The default retirement age of 65 will also be axed, preventing older staff from being forced into retirement against their wishes.
UK life expectancy is currently 77 years for men and 81 for women, and with pensioners outnumbering children for the first time, the coalition seems to have decided it is high time to "reinvigorate the pension landscape".
The plans have come under criticism from many groups, including The Labour Party.
Labour's previous policy had been to raise the pension age to 66 in 2024, eventually increasing it to 68 by 2046.
Shadow work and pensions secretary Yvette Cooper has criticised the new government for leaving a group of people "who haven't got time to change their plans" thousands of pounds worse off.
That the changes are unfair on people nearing retirement is perhaps the prevailing argument.
But others have also attacked the idea that the higher pension age is justified by higher life expectancy, saying manual workers do not enjoy anything like the same life expectancy as professionals, and that forcing them to remain in employment until the age of 66 is unacceptable.
That employers will lose the ability to shed staff using an "arbitrary age limit" (as Iain Duncan Smith called it) will not be as contentious an issue as the increase in state pension age.
The threat of raising it to 70 and beyond is symptomatic of an increasing population, the present need for spending cuts to remedy the UK's deficit, and thus the unsustainibility of current pension policy.
Only the next decades will tell whether pension policy will continue on this trajectory, with the state pension restricted more and more before fizzling out entirely.
Undeniably, this serves as an example of an increasing need for personal retirement planning.
Already, the state pension allowance is unlikely to support most people's lifestyles.
Pensions and annuities give you control over your retirement income, and a degree of control about when to access it - most personal plans will let you withdraw an annuity and tax-free lump sum from age 55, including while you are still working.
Compounded capital means starting early can make a surprisingly large difference to your resulting fund.
There are even an increasing number of pensions aimed at children, whose popularity is spurred on by the idea that saving in small increments from birth can result in a million pound nest egg.
Whether the changes are justifiable are not, one thing is clear: the onus is shifting from the state on to the British 'individual' to start taking responsibility for planning their own retirement.