One in three people admit that pensions are bottom of their to-do list — and they are more likely to be prioritise planning holidays or managing hair and beauty appointments.
The research, by Standard Life, shows that even when consumers get around to pensions admin more than a quarter (27 per cent) only check their pension once a year or even less frequently, while 14 per cent admit they’ve never even looked at how much they have saved in a pension.
Of those who don’t check their account annually, one if five (22 per cent) sid this is because they don’t know what they should be doing.
Standard Life said that, worryingly, this rose to a third (34 per cent) of 35- to 54-year olds, compared to 26 per cent of 18- to 34-year olds and 11% per cent of the over 55s.
Meanwhile, 16 per cent of those who check the pension less than once a year say it’s because they don’t know where to access this information, while 15 per cent simply say they don’t know how to check it.
In addition, 13 per cent don’t believe they have enough savings to engage with their pension and 12 per cent don’t review theirs because they find the whole process overwhelming.
Standard Life managing director for workplace pensions Gail Izat says: “We know that people who actively engage with their retirement saving throughout their financial lives give themselves a huge head-start even simply by knowing how much they have saved, and what they are likely to be able to afford in retirement.”
She says those armed with this basic information have a chance to make a plan to address any under-saving before it’s too late, or manage future spending expectations. They will also be Y able to check if your investments are working for them and look at whether they’d benefit from consolidation.
She adds: “Employers and pension providers can help people stay on top of their long-term savings by introducing engaging and targeted communications at each stage of life and, crucially, showing how pension saving forms part of people’s wider financial wellbeing – one piece of the bigger financial jigsaw.”
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