Tel: 01283 701569

Experienced Independent Financial Advisers

Sleepwalking into retirement

5 Feb 2018

Lack of pension knowledge among UK adults

The UK’s middle-aged workers could be sleepwalking into retirement poverty. Four in ten people aged between 40 and 65 cannot accurately estimate their total pension savings for retirement.

Just over a third of 60 to 65-year-olds who took part in a questionnaire by the JLT Employee Benefits research do not know the size of their retirement fund. Additionally, two thirds of 40 to 65-year-olds with pension savings of under £250,000 still believe their pension pot will end up paying out more than the UK State Pension.

Benefit of employment

However, current estimations suggest that £250,000 of savings would actually provide less than £159.55 per week – the current full State Pension. Only 29% of participants in the survey said they received enough support at their workplace to manage pensions. Two thirds of recipients said they would welcome retirement planning as a benefit of employment.

So far, nearly nine million people have been automatically enrolled since the system was launched five years ago in 2012, with the figure expected to reach 11 million by 2018.

Thought-provoking findings

Four out of five Britons are unhappy with the amount they are putting into their pension fund every month, while one in four people regret not starting to save for retirement earlier in life, according to research from Pension Geeks.

It is evident that there is a lack of pension knowledge among UK adults, with less than one in ten confident they have an in-depth understanding, according to the study. The research uncovered some thought-provoking findings on the state of pensions and pension awareness in the UK.

Complicated to understand

Almost nine in ten think there is not enough information about pensions readily available to them, and 25% believe the information that is available is too complicated to understand.

The latest Scottish Widows Retirement Report has revealed that the number of people saving sufficiently for retirement has stalled at 56% for the third consecutive year, with almost a fifth of the UK adult population not saving at all – that is more than nine million people. τ

A PENSION IS A LONG-TERM INVESTMENT. THE FUND VALUE MAY FLUCTUATE AND CAN GO DOWN, WHICH WOULD HAVE AN IMPACT ON THE LEVEL OF PENSION BENEFITS AVAILABLE.

PENSIONS ARE NOT NORMALLY ACCESSIBLE UNTIL AGE 55. YOUR PENSION INCOME COULD ALSO BE AFFECTED BY INTEREST RATES AT THE TIME YOU TAKE YOUR BENEFITS. THE TAX IMPLICATIONS OF PENSION WITHDRAWALS WILL BE BASED ON YOUR INDIVIDUAL CIRCUMSTANCES, TAX LEGISLATION AND REGULATION, WHICH ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE IN THE FUTURE.

Footnote: Our belief is that all finacial advice should be tailored to your particular needs and situation. The content of the articles featured in here are for your general information and use only; they are not intended to address your particular requirements or constitute a full and authoritative statement of the law. They should not be relied upon in their entirety and shall not be deemed to be, or constitute advice. Although endeavours have been made to provide accurate and timely information, there can be no guarantee that such information is accurate as of the date it is received or that it will continue to be accurate in the future. No individual or company should act upon such information without receiving appropriate professional advice after a thorough examination of their particular situation. Please get in touch to meet with us for a full consultation.

Get in touch for more details

Please fill the form below to contact us

    Your Name (required)

    Company Name

    Your Email (required)

    Areas of concern

    Individual servicesCorporate servicesMiscellaneous

    Subject

    Your Message

    We take your Privacy Seriously. Personal information submitted to us with this form will be treated in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018 and General Data Protection Regulations ‘GDPR’. By submitting this enquiry form you expressly consent to be contacted without prior notice or arrangement by using the contact details you have provided on the form. For further information on how we treat your personal information, please view our Privacy Policy

    I have read and agree to the privacy policy. Please retain my details to contact me.Please do not add me to the mailing list.