British people are more likely to feel comfortable explaining the offside football rule than they would a pension, life assurance firm Friends Life has claimed.
In a survey of 2,000 adults, the firm found that that only one-fifth (19%) of respondents were able to describe the notoriously misunderstood football rule, while less than 5% felt more confident describing a pension.
Colin Williams, managing director of corporate benefit at the firm, said: 'Pensions, annuities, income protection... these are terms that more people need to be aware of because they're important financial products.
'Getting more people able to explain income drawdown over the offside rule might be a little ambitious, but as the world of retirement is changing we need to make sure peoples' understanding increases as well.'
The firm noted that understanding of the term 'annuity' was particularly low at around 3%, despite it making headlines this year when the Chancellor George Osborne announced that people would be able to access their pension pot without buying one.
Even less people were able to describe the term income drawdown (1%), which allows an individual to take an income from their pension fund while leaving the rest invested.
More people, however, felt it would be easier to explain the term life insurance (10%) and income protection (5%).