One in five Brits have no pension savings and face retirement poverty

ONE in five working Brits face retirement poverty because they have failed to save into a pension, a new study has revealed.

Of those who do have a pension, 80 per cent have no idea how much they will need in their pot when it comes to retirement.

The remaining 20 per cent guessed that £275,000 will allow them to live comfortably.

The survey of 2,000 workers also revealed that the average person doesn't start to pay into their pension until they're 27 years old, with five per cent avoiding or unable to make any payments until they're in their 40s.

Most of the people surveyed planned to pack in work at 65. But two out of five did not know the state pension age will rise to 66 for both men and women by 2020.

And it could go up to 70 by 2056, because of rising life expectancy.

People also wrongly believed that the state pension would pay out more than £15,000 a year for retirement. The actual current figure is a little more than £8,000.

Catherine Bannan, whose firm printerland.co.uk conducted , urged workers to be more savvy.

She said: "It's worth remembering that by law, every employer needs to provide a Workplace Pension Scheme by 2018.

"As businesses, we need to ensure that we match the minimum percentage of our employees' 'qualifying earnings'.

"Employers also have an obligation to educate their employees on how the Workplace Pension Scheme operates, and how they can ensure they start futureproofing their retirement as soon as possible."

The survey found the average Millennial began paying into their pension at age 23, whereas the over 55s left it until age 30.

The average employee who was quizzed earns £31,493 and had £17,462 saved.

Brits working in the law enforcement and security field currently boast the biggest pension pots, with £200,000 saved, followed by transport and logistics (£123,169) and property and construction (£111,026).

Those putting the smallest amounts aside work in the media and marketing sector, the study found.

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