Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
New research by Royal London has found that four in ten (40%) workers have little or no idea how much they need to save for retirement.
The research found only a minority of UK employees (16%) are very confident that the amount they are currently saving is sufficient for retirement. A further 46% are fairly confident, however this leaves a significant proportion of workers (37%) that are not confident.
Two fifths (43%) of those that are confident they will have a secure income for the duration of their retirement are currently saving 5% or less of their annual gross income.
One in five (20%) workers also admit to having never checked their pension savings. The danger is that without establishing a plan, it makes it difficult to know how much they’ll need to save to achieve the lifestyle they aspire to in retirement.
Jamie Jenkins, Director of Policy & External Affairs at Royal London, said “While the priority for people at the moment is dealing with the current cost of living challenges, the crisis we have today provides a useful insight into what retirement might look like if a generation of people have not saved enough. It’s therefore crucial that we set out a clear plan to raise retirement saving to more adequate levels in future.”
“Saving for later life through your employer may be embedded into the DNA of the UK pensions system, thanks to automatic enrolment, but we need to be realistic about setting the right level of saving to achieve the retirement people aspire to.”
“For most people, saving at the minimum of around 8% of their salary won’t be enough to give them the kind of retirement that they want. Older workers often look back on their working life with regret that they didn’t take more responsibility for their financial future sooner – either starting saving earlier or putting a bit more away than they did.”
“Starting to save for retirement as early as possible gives you the best chance of building up a bigger pot over as long a period as possible.”
