With 54 per cent of the people surveyed having three or more pensions, keeping track of how much money they have set aside for retirement is proving challenging, with 58 percent admitting to having no idea how much was in their pension pot.
The study of 2,000 people found that two-thirds (65 percent) were feeling anxious, confused, overwhelmed or stressed at the prospect of locating and accessing their pension pots as they near retirement age. Only 24 percent of over 55’s were feeling confident about locating and accessing their pension.
It also revealed that 4 in 10 consumers (38 percent) still have no idea how much they need to comfortably retire. While the latest figures show that the average single person would need a pension pot of £192,000 for a comfortable retirement, 19 percent of the participants were way off the mark, believing they would only need up to £100,000 to retire comfortably. Interestingly, 28 percent of the 18-24 year olds in the survey thought that they could comfortably retire with just £50,000 in their pension pot. Almost half (46 percent) of over 55’s had no idea how much they would need to comfortably retire.
The study also found that 39 percent of people were feeling concerned about not having enough money to live comfortably during their old age. A further 8 percent said they knew they would not have enough in their pension at retirement.
Pete Hykin, co-founder of Penfold, said: “Our research has shown that people are still feeling in the dark about their retirement. This is probably a legacy of the days when you had to make a phone call or wait weeks for a letter to find out anything about your pension. When your information is available via your phone, accessible in a few taps as it is with the new generation of digital pension providers, there’s really no reason why pensions should be overwhelming or confusing.
“With there no longer being ‘a job for life’ and the introduction of the ‘auto enrolment scheme’ many people now have multiple pension pots. This can make it tricky to keep track of where all your pensions are and how much is in each account. We believe it should be easy to see how much money you have in your pension pot - just like you can your bank account. The important thing about saving for a pension is to start as early as you can, no matter how small the amount. Being able to see how much you're saving and how far away you are from your target retirement fund really helps people to establish a regular savings habit.”
Pete added: “Over two-thirds of people are worried in some way about locating and accessing their pension pots - this is probably caused by the thought of having to search through years of paperwork to find old pension details. It’s easy for our users to track down old pensions just using the company name - meaning that they have full visibility of their retirement fund in one place.”
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