Millions not saving enough into pension for a basic retirement

28 comments

1. Many will have to delay their retirement, experts warn, as people cannot afford to save more in their pension pot.

   Millions of people are still not saving[ enough into their pension](https://inews.co.uk/category/inews-lifestyle/money/pensions-and-retirement?ico=in-line_link), meaning they will likely have to delay their retirement.

   The percentage of people not on track for even a minimum retirement lifestyle has worsened, from 35 per cent to 38 per cent since 2023, equating to an extra 1.2 million people, according to new figures.

   A minimum retirement, as defined by the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association, is £14,400 a year for a single person and means they have £50 to spend on groceries a week and no car.

   Scottish Widows’ annual retirement report found there is a growing polarisation between those whose wages have been able to keep up with[ the cost of living ](https://inews.co.uk/topic/cost-of-living?gad_source=5&gclid=EAIaIQobChMImbCes_O6hwMViKBoCR1JpQYkEAAYBCAAEgK_7vD_BwE?ico=in-line_link)and those whose have not.

   Rents for example have increased by 15 per cent between 2022 and 2023, whilst [the state pension](https://inews.co.uk/topic/state-pension?ico=in-line_link) increased by 8.5 per cent and wages by 6.2 per cent.

   It means many are unable to adequately contribute to their retirement fund. In the survey of over 5,000 adults, most people said they would like retire at the age of 62, but 54 per cent think they will have to work longer than they would like, on average by seven years.

   A further 27 per cent don’t feel they will ever be able to retire while just 34 per cent think they are currently preparing adequately for retirement.

   A growing number of people are paying for their mortgage or rent into retirement which means they have less disposable income.

   There are also concerns the state pension will not be around to benefit them when it comes to retirement. Currently, 46 per cent of retirees say the state pension provides a significant portion of their income.

   Pete Glancy, head of pensions policy at Scottish Widows, said: “The growing gap in retirement outcomes and people’s quality of later life, between those who are currently retired and those who will retire in the future, is of great concern.

   “There is still a real reliance on the state pension, and while some will be able to use their private pension pot to give them the flexibility they are looking for in terms of retirement age, it’s only starting to dawn on others that they may end up working for much longer.”

   Scottish Widows suggests Labour needs to properly investigate how it can help people save.

2. I mean yeah? Millions are struggling to pay their way today to worry about putting money away for paying to live in years to come.

3. Forgive my ignorance but are pensioners eligible for housing benefits to help with rent?

4. You can own a house, have kids or retire…. A few years ago I would have said you have to pick 2 of the 3 but now a fair number of people may never achieve 1 of the 3

5. “People have fuck all money. Their wages are depressed, and we tax them at every corner. We made everything digital too so we can track everything they do and spend, so private companies supermarkets can slowly figure out which products are more price inelastic than they originally thought and increase the price knowing they will still buy it. We milk every single drop out of anyone below 45 years old, and we saddled them with £30,000 in student fees that give them a degree that is absolutely necessary for the work place but as soon as they have it is worthless in comparison to work experience. The housing market is so inflated most will have to co-op in share houses, many for life, if they want to own it. In return for all their taxes, we give them jack shit. Royal Mail, NHS, water companies, social housing, potholes, investment in city centres, drug rehabilitation, prisons, police, firebrigades, nurses, clean energy, nuclear energy, renewable energy are all underfunded and then we wonder why kids today go and get cheap fast gratification from buying things they don’t need after we tell them the world will burn in 10 years time”.

   “But we have the money to spend £10bn on a Rwanda scheme, and £20bn on a Covid app, at a moment’s notice no problem”.

6. State pension > Income – mortgage. So why would I need to save for a pension if I am on track to pay off the mortgage by the time I can get the state pension? I will be even richer than I am now and I won’t even have to work for it.

7. Every time I get a pay rise I think I’ll put more into my pension but the cost of heating my fucking house, keeping my kids in nursery and food on the table promptly gobbles up any real surplus.

8. It’s fine, I plan to die at my desk at the ripe age of 90, just like the Tories intended.

9. Why break your back to save for a pension right now when people can’t afford to live normally when they’re younger? Young people know they’ve been fucked over.

10. Beacuse a) I have no money and b) you arseholes in parliament allow multi-billion corporate employers to contribute 3-fucking-percent to the pension pot.

11. Financial independence is a myth. You either live off your parents, off credit, off the state, or off your kids.

12. If this is happening in most western countries, then along with housing, low wages, inflation etc, it just shows capitalism is massively failing.

13. I’m 25 but I’m genuinely terrified by the thought of being old in todays Britain. It’s just not an appealing thought at all, I imagine I’ll have to work well into senility to be able to even live.

    Sort of hoping WW3 kicks off so I can either die or get a veteran pension, probably at the cost of a limb to a bloody drone or something. Just a lovely hopeful future ahead of us. Multiple ticking clocks of doom.

14. Millions aren’t paid enough nor have savings talk less of putting money into a pension

15. Why invest money I don’t have into a system that I’m probably not going to live long enough to enjoy?

16. I’m barely surviving now…let alone worrying about 20 years from now

17. I actually got all my numbers together and really looked at my pension. It’s not the best (but better than most, not really saying much really) so I was looking at increasing my contribution. Then my mortgage renewal came through and the cheapest deal was a 50% increase on my, then, current payments. Added to stagnant wages, crazy inflation and outright greed from the big companies there’s just not enough spare to stick in.

18. Becuase it’s not affordable. I’m living paycheck to paycheck just paying my mortgage. I don’t have money left to set aside.

19. Yeah, cos we’re spending all our money on living a basic life

20. Retirement won’t be a thing by the time some of us get there.

21. Try saving for retirement when renting and being able to eat *now*

22. Say it with me. Repeat it often so it sticks. It’s a wages crisis, not cost of living crisis.

    We have had decades of fair wage increases stolen from the average worker to ensure corporate profit/bonuses.

23. I don’t know why anyone is worried about this

    All you need to do is get on a boat and sail to a wealthier country, then they have to give you free money and accommodation.

    That’s how it works, right?

24. I genuinely think it’s a lot worse still than that, even.

    This is speaking about a generation of people with homes and good jobs and cars and holidays. But maybe not enough of a pension, although they will get a state pension.

    There is a generation of us coming behind that one, who don’t have homes, don’t have cars, don’t have good jobs, don’t holiday and are struggling to think about what retirement might look like.

25. My genuine retirement plan is death. And I cannot see much hope for a lot of people. There’s a very large workforce in the UK who work physically hard jobs that will take their toll and leave them unable to continue at some point.

    And what jobs do we have for these people when they are below retirement but still unable to continue labouring for a living?

    I work in tech and am in my forties and struggle to keep up. Everything is changing all the time and I know at some point what I do will be done by a machine, for better or worse.

    When the work dries up and I am no longer able to support my lifestyle I will nope out somewhere quietly. I have no family and all my friends are in the same boat. The only thing that will miss me is the government for my tax money and I will be forgotten quickly

26. I can,t. I have bugger all money. I do not have doubt its going to bite me in the arss. But its also not my fault. The government give with one hand and take from the other.

27. Why should I pay into a promise of slightly more money that I may not even get, the company may embezzle the funds, or at a minimum will get at a ridiculous wage and/or taxed to death, when the planet will likely be ripped apart by global warming / war when I’m struggling to live right now as half my money goes to a greedy landlord when my pay is before 2008 levels with 2024 inflation? 

     People are struggling to make ends meet, companies and landlords are getting greedier and greedier. Previous generations used to get university for free, have accessible healthcare, have un-potholed roads, feel safe in their communities. We get none of this now.

     I’d rather have £1 now and use it to get through the day – having dare I say it even a “good” life (if you’re lucky), then £1.30 when I’m 85 and a boring old cunt who’s only joy in life is buying gardening equipment. 

     The opinion of a lot of people of our generation is it’s better to have a good life (or at least somewhat close to what previous generations had) then a slightly longer life  full of misery because all your money is going into savings.

28. Reword as

    “Millions don’t get paid much above minimum wage, whilst the cost of living keeps going up, with many unable to cover basic needs now”