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Study reveals ⅕ Brits believe they will
never be able to retire WORKING
for a living is something we all expect to do, but, technically, we also have to
work for when we don't earn a living anymore; also known as saving a pension for
our retirement. Yet when you're just about managing, paying your inflated rent
or mortgage, barely getting any interest on your savings, and grappling with the
constantly rising costs of living, how, exactly, are you supposed to put aside
this mythical retirement money at all?
The harsh reality, unfortunately, is that many of us don't. Peer to peer lending
platform Lending Works surveyed 1,500 non retired adults in the UK (YouGov),
whose results you can see on their infographic here, and made some worrying
discoveries. Firstly, over 1 in 5 of those who aren't yet retired; 22%; gloomily
believe that they'll never be financially secure enough to retire. This suggests
they have visions of working until they drop, as they won't be able to afford to
stop earning money. This pessimistic view is highest in the 35 to 44 year old
category, with 25% of them not seeing themselves as ever being financially
secure enough to retire, although only 17% of 18 to 24 year olds, who
technically have more time to start saving, agree. And countrywide, the outlook
is bleakest in the West Midlands, 27%perhaps due to relatively high
unemployment, compared to only 19% in London, where there are, theoretically,
more jobs.
The main reason, of course, that we can't see ourselves retiring is because we
can't afford to. Over a ⅓ of non retired adults; 34%;
don't save a single penny towards retirement each month. Let's face it, it could
be that when you've got bills and rent to pay, you're trying to feed yourself
and your family, you've got to pay for your transport to work and you also want
to have a social life, sparing a few pence, or pounds, for the future tends to
slip far down the priority list? And women are guiltier of this than men, with
41% of non retired females not saving towards retirement, compared to 26% of
men.
So who does manage to put a few pennies away for a rainy day? Interestingly, the
survey found a correlation between retirement saving and choice of social media.
Over ½ of people who use LinkedIn; which, let's face it, is a career focused
network aimed at higher earning professionals; contribute 3% of their salary or
more to their pension pot each month. This drops to 32% for those who use
Facebook and Twitter; who, perhaps, tend to be younger and not as well
established yet in their careers; and 29% for those who use Google+.
"It is clear from this research that many Brits are quite
pessimistic when it comes to the future. It is also particularly concerning to
see how many people aren't planning adequately for their retirement, although it
is perhaps somewhat understandable given the slow economic recovery and poor
returns on savings currently available. But with a growing number of
alternatives to the established avenues for saving, there are still many ways in
which consumers can get on top of things, and thus leave themselves in good
shape by the time they reach traditional retirement age." commented Nick
Harding, CEO and co-founder of Lending Works. |
