Umbrella company contractors should start considering their retirement now. Recent research, carried out by Defaqto, shows that 44% of adults in the UK are not confident that they will be able to sustain a reasonable standard of living once they retire. That’s a rise from 38% last year.
Only 11% of the survey’s respondents now believe their retirement income will be sufficient to support a comfortable lifestyle, whereas in 2009, 16% were confident.
Defaqto said that people are starting to recognise that they will have to depend on their own savings as they get older. 30% of the adults surveyed now think that a personal pension will provide the majority of their retirement income. Last year, only 17% felt that way. Despite this, 61% still think they will need to depend on the state pension to survive. Commenting on the results, Matthew Ward from Defaqto said it was important for everybody to plan for their retirement as soon as possible.
Another poll, this time by YouGov, has discovered that only 22% of adults understand exactly how large a pension pot they need.
72% of people aged between 18 and 24 are completely in the dark when it comes to financing their retirement and maybe surprisingly, so are 29% of the over 55s. Whilst the people in the over 55 age bracket are unlikely to be able to build a substantial pension pot at such a late stage, the same cannot be said for younger freelance workers. Now is the time to start saving to ensure retirement expectations are met.
Nick Cann, the chief executive of the Institute of Financial Planning, agreed with Ward’s comments saying it is never too early to begin planning for future financial goals.
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