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Report archive

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Life Well Spent 2024

Read the third edition of SunLife's annual Life Well Spent report, looking at the relationship between happiness and major spending decisions in later life.

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Cost of Dying 2024

After two years of falls, the cost of a basic funeral in the UK is on the rise again. Meanwhile, the average cost of dying has reached a record high.

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Life Well Spent 2023

For the second year running, SunLife surveyed more than 2,000 people over 50 to better understand the relationship between happiness and major spending decisions.

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Cost of Dying 2023

In 2022, the cost of dying was £9,200. A basic funeral in the UK now costs £3,953 on average, having dropped 2.5% since 2021.

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Life Well Spent 2022

What big spends improve our happiness the most in later life? From holidays to home improvements, we explore which purchases have the biggest impact.

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Cost of Dying 2022

In 2021, the cost of dying was £8,864. A basic funeral in the UK now costs £4,056 on average, making it almost half of the total cost of dying.

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Finances After 50 2021

In this report, we look at what people aged over 50 in the UK do with their money, including their spending and saving habits.

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Cost of Retirement

We asked 1,000 people over 50 about the financial and emotional costs of retirement.

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Cost of Dying 2021

In 2020, the cost of dying reached an all-time high of £9,263. A basic funeral in the UK now costs £4,184 on average, making it almost half of the total cost of dying.

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Retiring Ageism 2020

SunLife is shining a light on the misrepresentation of the over 50s in Britain, in the hope we can retire ageism once and for all.

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Equity Release 2020

A study into what's important to people over 50 when it comes to their finances – and how equity release could help them.

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Cost of Dying 2020

The average cost of dying is now at an all-time high of £9,493 - that's a +3.1% increase since 2018.

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Ageist Britain? 2019

At SunLife, we celebrate life after 50. In this report, we’re shining a light on the issue of casual ageism and the impact it has.

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Cost of Dying 2018

The average cost of dying is now £9,204 – a rise of 57% since we first started tracking the cost of dying 11 years ago.

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Equity Release 2018

A comfortable retirement, on the house – attitudes towards equity release among the over 55s.

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Cost of Dying 2017

In 2017, the average cost of dying was £8,905 – a 1.2% rise in a year and a rise of more than 50% since we first started tracking the cost of dying 10 years ago.

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Cash Happy 2017

An annual report which studies the day-to-day finances of more than 3,000 UK households.

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