According to a report commissioned by life and pensions company Friends Provident, more than two thirds of UK retirees believe that the state pension handouts are not adequate enough for a comfortable living.
The Freetirement Generation report indicated that only 4% of people in the UK feel that they could live comfortably on the amount offered by the basic state pension, whereas 69% estimate that they would need GBP600 or more a month to live comfortably.
Furthermore, the report revealed that, while 69% of current retirees have adequate funds to support themselves in retirement, 32% of those still in employment expect to struggle financially when they retire, and 14% expect to wish that they had saved more for their retirement.
Jeremy Ward, head of pensions marketing at Friends Provident, said: Whilst the recent modest state pension increase may see more going into people’s pockets each year, our research has found that the vast majority of people need far more money than the state provides in order to live comfortably. Three quarters of people yet to retire expect to need more than GBP600 a month to live comfortably, significantly more than the state provides. Considering that a quarter of people haven’t yet started planning or don’t intend to plan for their retirement, this is something they can only dream about.
By ignoring how much they need to save to live comfortably in retirement or how soon they need to start saving, many Brits are facing a potential pension shortfall.