Many of us dream of retirement with time and money to do the things we want with our families and loved ones – but to one in 10 of us that dream will not come true.
The facts about retirement, according to research by financial firm Baring Asset Management, are entirely different.
Most of us would like to retire at 62 years old – but:
- More than a third of workers have no idea when they will give up their job
- 10% of us – that’s just over three million people – will never retire
- Just under a third have no pension savings
The company has run the survey for the past five years, and many of the figures have remained reasonably static.
Unrealistic retirement savings
The average desired retirement age has floated between 62 and 64 years old, the number of workers with no fixed retirement age has seen a high of 42% and a low of 34% while averaging 38%.
The number doubting they will ever retire has reached a six-year low at 9% in 2015, after ranging between 10% and 14% in previous years with an average over the six years of 11.5%.
The number of retirement savers without a pension has seen a steady drop from 38% in 2010 to 31% in 2015.
A Barings spokesman said: “It’s clear many people do not have an effective pension, even though it’s good to see the number is falling.
“How people can expect to retire without a boost from the state pension and not have any savings seems to be unrealistic.”
How much do you need to save for a pension?
The spokesman argued that people need to take more responsibility for planning their retirement from a younger age.
“Everyone needs to understand how they will have to save to fund their retirement, rather than leaving important financial decisions to the last minute.”
Pension firm Aviva has calculated a 55 year old needs to save £178 a month on top of what they already put aside for their pension if they have banked a fund of £50,000.
This will fill the retirement savings gap between the state pension and the estimated annual income a pensioner needs of £12,590 a year.
However, the firm says if you are 55 already and have saved nothing, you need to put away £469 a month to plug the hole between the state pension and the annual income a pensioner needs to get by.
