Retirement

Better Late Than Never For Pension Saving

The biggest pension regret is not starting to save early enough or taking a break from setting money aside for retirement, according to a new report.

Just over half of all workers warned their younger colleagues not to put off the day to start saving seriously in a survey by life and pensions firm Aegon.

On the other side of the coin, many classed their best financial decision as joining a workplace pension scheme or starting their own personal pension.

Poor retirement planning was their second regret.

Taking control

Not having a financial strategy was cited as a bad decision by 14%, while 12% wished they had paid more attention to their retirement planning and had taken more control of their money.

Women (17%) voiced their regret at not paying more attention to their pension savings, while men (11%) were more concerned with the money they had spent on fees and charges while saving.

The best decisions were starting pension saving at an early age (19%) and topping up a workplace pension by saving extra (18%).

Steven Cameron, pensions director at Aegon said: “With the state pension unlikely to provide an adequate income for most, saving into your workplace or personal pension is not something you can afford to delay. For many of us, it’s the most important saving pot we’ll ever have, so you want to give yourself the best chance of building it up over as a long a period as possible.”

Best decision

With 42% of retirement savers saying their best financial decision was saving into a workplace pension, Cameron warned that putting off setting money aside for retirement was seen as a mistake by older workers.

 “There’s a saying – smart people learn from their mistakes; wise people learn from the mistakes of others. When it comes to saving for retirement, it’s easy to fall into bad habits or make decisions you’ll later regret. But taking personal responsibility and making better financial decisions now will make all the difference to your future,” he said.

“It’s all too easy to put things off till tomorrow, and for those many years away from retirement, delaying paying into a pension, or putting off plans ‘till next year’ may look tempting. But our research shows that many people live to regret procrastinating.”

Leave a Comment