Skip to main content
The Actuary: The magazine of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries - return to the homepage Logo of The Actuary website
  • Search
  • Visit The Actuary Magazine on Facebook
  • Visit The Actuary Magazine on LinkedIn
  • Visit @TheActuaryMag on Twitter
Visit the website of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries Logo of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries

Main navigation

  • News
  • Features
    • General Features
    • Interviews
    • Students
    • Opinion
  • Topics
  • Knowledge
    • Business Skills
    • Careers
    • Events
    • Predictions by The Actuary
    • Whitepapers
  • Jobs
  • IFoA
    • CEO Comment
    • IFoA News
    • People & Social News
    • President Comment
  • Archive

Topics

  • Data Science
  • Investment
  • Risk & ERM
  • Pensions
  • Environment
  • Soft skills
  • General Insurance
  • Regulation Standards
  • Health care
  • Technology
  • Reinsurance
  • Global
  • Life insurance
Quick links:
  • Home
  • The Actuary Issues
  • May 2013
05

One in seven 2013 retirees 'will entirely rely on state pension'

Open-access content 22nd May 2013

One in seven people retiring this year will be entirely reliant on the state pension for their retirement income, with women especially dependent on the payouts, according to research published by the Prudential yesterday.

The latest data from the insurance company's Class of 2013 survey also shows that the average person planning to retire this year will rely on the state pension for more than one third (36%) of their income.

On average, women retiring this year will receive 43% of their retirement income from the state, while men will on average receive 30% of their income in this way.

Prudential's analysis also found that 18% of those planning to retire this year will be below the £8,254 a year income which the Joseph Rowntree Foundation estimates as the poverty line for a single pensioner in the UK.

Women are more likely to be in poverty in retirement, with 21% expecting to retire with an annual income below this level in 2013, compared to 14% of men. Women are also nearly three times more likely than men to have no other pension - 23% of those retiring in 2013 will do so without a private pension, compared to 8% of men.

Vince Smith-Hughes, retirement income expert at Prudential, said: 'Against a backdrop of rising living costs, the basic state pension alone is not nearly enough to provide a comfortable standard of living. While it's a very valuable source of additional income for millions of pensioners, the state pension should ideally only represent a part of someone's retirement income, not all of it.

'Relying on the state will see many people retiring below the poverty line this year, which shows the importance of building up a personal pension. Virtually everyone with the option of a company pension should take advantage of that, and the tax relief and employer contributions that go with it. When combined these often come to more than double the amount of pension contribution the employee has to make.'

Prudential also found that nearly one-in-four (23%) of this year's retirees overestimate what the state pension pays by more than £600 a year, and 10% have no idea how much it pays.

This article appeared in our May 2013 issue of The Actuary.
Click here to view this issue
Filed in:
05
Topics:
Pensions
Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linked in
  • Mail
  • Print

Latest Jobs

Reinsurance Pricing Lead

England, London
£40000 - £75000 per annum
Reference
118905

Senior Pricing Actuary

London, England
£60000 - £110000 per annum
Reference
118904

Pricing Actuary (Casualty)

England, London
£60000 - £80000 per annum
Reference
118903
See all jobs »
 
 
 
 

Sign up to our newsletter

News, jobs and updates

Sign up

Subscribe to The Actuary

Receive the print edition straight to your door

Subscribe
Spread-iPad-slantB-june.png
​
FOLLOW US
The Actuary on LinkedIn
@TheActuaryMag on Twitter
Facebook: The Actuary Magazine
CONTACT US
The Actuary
Tel: (+44) 020 7880 6200
​

IFoA

About IFoA
Become an actuary
IFoA Events
About membership

Information

Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Cookie Policy
Think Green

Get in touch

Contact us
Advertise with us
Subscribe to The Actuary Magazine
Contribute

The Actuary Jobs

Actuarial job search
Pensions jobs
General insurance jobs
Solvency II jobs

© 2020 The Actuary. The Actuary is published on behalf of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries by Redactive Publishing Limited, Level 5, 78 Chamber Street, London, E1 8BL. Tel: 020 7880 6200