Britons in retirement denial


Britons are tending to ‘live for the day’ rather than save for their retirements, according to new research released by market intelligence company Mintel.
The new research, released over the weekend, found that those living in the United Kingdom were more focused on what their money ‘can do in the here-and-now’, with only 34 per cent of non-retired adults having some form of pensions savings.
The Mintel research suggested that while the UK Government might hold concerns about retirement incomes adequacy, it was something that was being pushed to the back of the consumer mindset.
It said its research had found the most common reasons Britons were not saving for a pension was that they “would rather live for today than worry about what will happen in 20 or 30 years’ time”.
It said this laissez-faire attitude was more prevalent among younger adults, particularly those aged 18 to 24 (40 per cent), with 19 per cent of those not retired focusing on getting onto the property ladder.
Commenting on the data, Mintel senior financial analyst George Zaborowski said only one-third of UK consumers who had yet to retire had a pension – but more worrying still was that some of those people were not contributing to that pension.
“Many people only have a pension because one was made available to them through their place of work and because their employer also makes contributions,” he said. “Yet, as the cost of pension provision has risen, employer support for pensions over the past two decades has generally declined.”
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