Huge numbers of workers approaching retirement are worried that they may not have enough cash to fund a comfortable retirement, according to a new survey.
One in 10 say they have no pension, while close to 14% are concerned about their lack of savings and close to another third believe they will run out of money when they retire.
Astonishingly, almost a quarter of those under 35 years old who say they are concerned about funding their retirement prefer to spend their spare cash rather than save the money in a pension, says the Schroders Global Investor Study.
A fifth of this age group also stated they could not afford to save into a pension.
Across all age groups, not having enough money to make savings was a problem for 16% of retirement savers.
Lack of financial understanding
Researchers found four out of 10 savers had worries about their pensions because they did not understand how much they should save each month to build a fund for retirement.
Another third wanted to save but did not know how to invest their money for the best returns.
Only a quarter of investors professed they were confident they had enough money for their retirement because they had savings or a pension in place already.
Property was also revealed as a popular retirement investment. A fifth of investors explained they had property that would support their spending in retirement, while 12%, or one in eight, felt downsizing would give them the cash they needed once they had given up work.
Problems of longer life expectancy
Schroders’ Robin Stoakley said: “We are concerned that the results indicate a general lack of engagement for pension planning. This is very worrying given the clear message coming through that future generations of pensioners will have to provide for themselves.
“We are particularly concerned for the under 35s as they will not benefit from the intergenerational transfer of wealth to the same degree as previous generations thanks to longer life expectancy of their parents and grand-parents.”
The study was based on results from speaking to 20,000 investors in 28 countries who have at least 10,000 euros to invest during the next 12 months.
