With increasing numbers now working past traditional retirement ages[1], stopping work can seem a long way off, especially for younger people. However, new research[2] reveals that the early retirement dream lives on. Nearly two thirds (60%) of those stopping work this year are doing so before their expected State Pension age or company pension retirement date.
Saving not found to be a financial priority for UK workers
Worryingly, pension inertia is rife across the UK with many Britons failing to make saving for their old age a priority as they fall into a short-term saving trap. Saving for retirement is not looked upon as a priority until workers reach their 40s and 50s, according to new research involving a survey of 2,824 employees at medium and large private sector companies in the UK conducted by LifeSight, Willis Towers Watson’s UK DC master trust.
Fraudsters are using sophisticated ways to part savers from their money
Pension and investment scams are on the increase in the UK. Everyday fraudsters are using sophisticated ways to part savers from their money, and the Internet and advances in digital communications mean these kinds of scams are getting more common and harder to identify. A lifetime’s savings can be lost in moments.
The number of under-30s saving enough for retirement has risen sharply by 9%[1]. As the success of auto enrolment continues, two in five UK workers (39%) aged 22–29 years old are now saving adequately for retirement, up from 30% last year. Despite this, more than one in five young people (21%) are still saving nothing for later life, with a further 20% saving seriously less than 12% of their income.
Long-term saving could yield a £1m retirement pot for some millennials
The millennial generation don’t just spend their hard earned savings on smashed avocado and flat whites, but they do have a different attitude to money than older generations. In fact, some young people today or in future generations could accumulate a pension pot as high as £1 million[1] when they come to retire through a combination of higher earnings, a generous workplace pension and several decades of saving, according to new research.