Many people face living on the poverty line in their retirement as UK pensions are likely to provide an average return of under £40 a week, research has revealed.
Retirement consultants, Avacade Future Solutions looked at 10,000 UK active pension savers and found that the average individual fund size was just £33,000, or £39.66 per week, if people were to retire now.
This would provide 90% less than the desired requirement and - even with the state pension - would leave income below the average weekly cost of living for a pensioner of £199.75.
The consultants said its findings were 'worrying' and underlined just how many pensioners would have insufficient funds to live on in retirement.
A survey found that the majority of the sample hoping for £12,000 per annum in retirement, which would require an average fund size of £334,102 needed to reach this level, Avacade found.
Managing director Lee Lummis said: 'The pension reforms announced in the Budget are changing the marketplace considerably. Our research has supported this decision.
'Discovering that without reviewing the pension options available, many people in the UK would be left with so little in retirement - £39.66 a week. We believe the rest of the industry needs to recognise the number of people that are ill-prepared for retirement and ensure they are given the tools to secure their financial futures.'
