Half of people aged 55 plus in the UK have no idea when they’ll be able to retire, according to research from Momentum UK.
Despite being within a decade of state retirement age, in a study of 2,000 UK adults, just 49 per cent of those aged 55 plus knew at what age they could afford to stop working.
Since the introduction of pension freedoms in April 2015, thousands of people aged 55 plus have taken advantage of the new rules to take cash from their pension pots.
But according to the study, just 41 per cent of over-55s know how much they will actually need in their pension pot to support a comfortable lifestyle in retirement.
With most people now living longer and retirement becoming increasingly costly, this issue will only grow in severity.Samantha SeatonMost (62 per cent) within this age group have little idea how much money they will be able to pass on to their next of kin when they die.
The level of uncertainty around retirement was even greater when assessing respondents of all ages.
According to the study, three quarters (73 per cent) of UK adults did not know when they would be able to afford to retire, while 77 per cent did not know how much they would need in their pension pot to provide a comfortable retirement.
In the study, 60 per cent of those aged 55 plus said they were not satisfied that they could view all of their finances in one place, with this figure growing to 69 per cent for respondents of all ages.
Samantha Seaton, managing director of Momentum UK, said: “It is extremely worrying that so many people aged 55 and over are living in such uncertainty, when they should be looking forward to a comfortable retirement.
“With most people now living longer and retirement becoming increasingly costly, this issue will only grow in severity.
“There’s a tendency to bury your head in the sand when it comes to retirement, partly because of the difficulty faced in managing a pension alongside the stress of everyday finances.”
emma.hughes@ft.com
