Two-thirds of savers said they were interested in pension savings, but needed more help to save for a comfortable retirement.
The research, by digital pension platform Penfold, found potential engagement levels were high, with 71 per cent of respondents saying they would take more interest in pensions if the value of their pot increased.
However, the research also showed that most people weren’t saving enough, with one in five working adults (19 per cent) stating they have only £5,000 saved in their pension fund. A similar proportion admitted to not knowing how much is in their pension.
When asked at what value they would become more interested in their retirement savings, an equal proportion (20 per cent) said their interest would grow when their pot hit £25,000, £50,000 or £100,000.
However, Penfold points out that these figures are significantly below the estimated £254,420 people need to have saved into their pots in order to enjoy a comfortable retirement.
This lack of education is further emphasised by the fact that 16 per cent of people don’t know how much they’ll need to save in their pension pot for their desired standard of living — a figure which rises to 25 per cent among those aged 55-64 and 24 per cent among those aged 45-54.
Nevertheless, Penfold says high levels of interest in pensions could be good news for the industry with a greater number of savers interacting with pensions, even if of relatively low value, will drive engagement and give providers greater insight into how to get people saving more for retirement.
Penfold co-founder Chris Eastwood says: “Our research shows that fundamental change is needed for the pensions industry to be fit for today’s saver.
“It’s not good enough that a significant proportion of people are still in the dark about how much they need to save to achieve their desired standard of living after retirement. Education is the key to resolving this. Clearly, there is a real interest from savers looking to prepare for their future, but the industry is struggling to properly engage these savers.”
