70 percent of Brits fear that pensions are lacking

Pension Worry

Up to 70 percent of Brits have so little faith in the nation’s pension system, they fear they will never be able to give up work.

That amounts to 33million people who plan on continuing their employment beyond the standard age of retirement, 60 and 65 for women and men respectively.

A report conducted by pensions specialist Aviva found that the biggest concern for people was not being able to live on the pension comfortably. For two-thirds of people the threat of rising taxes was more worrying than the death of their spouse.

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph pension expert at the London School of Economics, Ros Altmann said: “We’ve had years to prepare for this demographic time bomb, but unfortunately over the last decade or more, the Government has systematically undermined pension saving and failed to prepare us properly for what’s coming.”

She added that “Public sector workers have seen little or no change in their generous pension provision while the rest of the work force faces the prospect of struggling to survive on just about the lowest state pension in the developed world and nearly half will need to claim means tested handouts to avoid penury.”

Currently elderly people face no option but to accept retirement but the new Coalition Government is thought to be interested in phasing this practice out.

Economists have been stating that the current retirement age is not in line with life expectancy and that an increase to the age of 70 would further assist paying for state pensions and also go a way towards reducing public debt.

The number of people who opt out of retirement is on the rise, figures show that currently a total of 1.5 million workers are continuing their employment past retirement, an increase of 78,000 from the previous year.

However money isn’t the only reason people want to stay in employment, having a job brings with it social interaction, a daily routine and an active mind, all important factors in keeping ourselves free from monotony.

If you are interested in alternative pension options please visit our section on pensions and retirement planning.