Could you live on £110 a week?
Well, apparently a quarter of workers aged 55 or more are banking on that particular sum to fund their retirement.
Due to the alarming, rising cost of living and a worrying lack of financial know-how, thousands of Britons approaching retirement are not paying into a pension plan and instead will have to survive on the state pension. That’s according to a survey by confused.com.
The survey showed that a third of working Britons are not paying into a pension and less than one in five have any savings or investments to fall back on. Instead, these workers are relying on the state to fund their retirement.
That is looking more and more like a risky bet, as an increasing number of people overestimate just how far a state pension will stretch to cover their financial needs.
Indeed, who knows when or if a state pension will still be in place in the future?
The confused.com survey also revealed that one in six over 55-year-olds expect to be shouldering credit card and mortgage debt into retirement – putting extra strain on their pension income. And 50% of workers aged over 50 are considering moving abroad in retirement.
Kate Rose, head of annuities at Confused.com says: “Retirement should be the time when we put our feet up and enjoy life, after decades of work, yet so many of us are underprepared. It’s staggering that so many people due to retire in the next 10 years are unaware of their options.”