Research by Hargreaves Lansdown has shown that less than half of Brits (47 per cent) know that their pension pot is invested.
A further 23 per cent claimed that they were unsure of what was being done with their retirement savings. There was also a gender gap, with 56 per cent of men recognising their pension is an investment compared to just 40 per cent of women.
Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown, says: “A pension is the longest investment most of us will hold and yet not many of us even realise it.
“To some extent this is understandable – people are auto-enrolled into a pension, and this can mean many do not actively engage with it. There’s also a language issue here – we talk about ‘saving’ into a pension, rather than ‘investing’ in one. It’s a confusion that must be dealt with if people are to make the most from their retirement.”
Hargreaves Lansdown also claimed that as pensions cannot be accessed until at least the age of 55, this slow “drip feed” of contributions into the markets, is essential to seeing pension money grow compared to standard retail investment.
The results were based on a survey of 1,200 people conducted by Opinium on behalf of HL in June.
