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07

Eight in ten Brits fear they are not saving enough for their retirement

Open-access content Monday 23rd July 2018 — updated 5.50pm, Wednesday 29th April 2020

There is widespread confusion among British adults around the amount of money needed in retirement, with eight in ten not confident they are saving enough.

2


That is according to the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA), which has found that a whopping 30.4 million working age people fear they are saving too little.

It was also found that approximately half of savers wrongly assume that minimum workplace pension contributions are the government's recommended amount to save.

In response, the PLSA suggests the UK introduce Retirement Income Targets similar to those used in Australia, allowing people to see the different lifestyles that varying incomes can support.

"Millions of savers are confused about whether they're on track for the lifestyle they want in retirement," PLSA director of policy, Nigel Peaple, said.

"We believe that a simple and widely promoted system of Retirement Income Targets would make it much easier for savers to know whether they are saving the right amount."

The research found that 74% of UK savers believe such targets would help financial planning, with 70% saying they would encourage them to save more, rising to 78% among millennials.

The PLSA also recommend that minimum workplace contributions be increased to 12% between 2025 and 2030, and that a new regulatory framework be introduced to help people find appropriate saving products.

Providers should explore how equity release products can be made more flexible, and lenders offer retirement interest-only mortgage products, while the regulator should do more to encourage high standards of governance.

"Targets alone will not be enough," Peaple said. "We are setting out our vision for a savings system that helps everyone achieve a better income in retirement.

"We are proposing a range of measures and would like the government, pensions sector and regulators to work together to take these forward."


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This article appeared in our July 2018 issue of The Actuary .
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