"The world at retirement is in a radically transitional period"

    - Stuart Bayliss, director of the Annuity Exchange.

Next month, approximately 1.9 million women born between 6 April 1950 and 5 April 1955 will be presented with a new state pension age, somewhere between 60 and 64 and 11 months. Women born later will receive their pension aged 65, at the earliest. And this is just one change in a line-up of many, which will create a very different pensions outlook for all of us.

It's been 100 years since the first state pension payments were made, and they have made a difference. But under all the strains of our modern society, can the state pension system actually survive another 100 years? The time horizons laid out, in the various recommendations which Lord Adair Turner's Pensions Committee made to the government, indicated that the state pension would be around for the next 50 years. But 50 years is a long time, especially given current economic and demographic trends, which are already exerting their heavy pressures on state pensions.

Longevity, for instance, has increased rapidly over the past thirty years. When the 'Old Age Pensions Act' was passed in 1908 people were expected to live 9 years (beyond 70); at retirement now they are pencilled in for another 24; and a quarter of those born today are expected to stride out until at least 100. The Pensions Minister, Angela Eagle, recently predicted that the first person to live to 120 will get there in 2063.

Under government plans already in place, those born after 5 April 1978 will have a state retirement age of 68, whilst for 31-41 year olds the age will be 66 or 67, and for 41 to 51 year olds it will be 65 or 66. From 6th April 2010 the minimum pension age will also rise for private pensions, from 50 to 55, and from April 2012 other schemes will signal more change afoot, such as "auto-enrollment" employer schemes.

So, if we only subscribe to pensions the state way, and things continue on trend, we will probably be properly old and wrinkly before we start to see any fruits.

State pensions are looking gloomy and grey (take a look at the chart), and it seems that some of us may be 90 before we start receiving ours. Really, it is fair to say that pensions are in a bit of a pickle. But how do other investments fare? Other investments, such as annuities, are vulnerable to fluctuations in interest rates and investment markets, as recent retirees have found out the hard way. Indeed, many pension plans lost over 40% of their value in 2008. And final salary schemes have offered an equally rocky road. Robin Ellison, a former chairman of the National Association of Pension Funds, has described The Pension Protection Fund (PPF), which adopts the liabilities of these schemes when employers fail, as "absolutely doomed."

As a result, the Independent rightly said that "A growing minority of individuals will get more involved in their own retirement planning and, in many cases, will vastly improve their position as a result." Currently, more accessible assets like ISAs and savings offer rather bleak returns, and investment advisors and employers have a habit of fund management for Mr. Average.

Finding an imaginative alternative for retirement income requires a proactive approach. The government can't be relied on to ensure your later years are comfortable and secure. The time is now to take things into your own hands. There are many profitable schemes and interesting investment models out there; they are just waiting to be found.