71% not confident about State Pension

More than one in four expects to retire at age 70 or older

In a survey carried out by Standard Life, 71% are not confident that they will receive the same level of today’s State pension when they retire. 

When asked the question, “Do you feel confident that the Government will pay you the same level of today’s state pension when you retire?”

• 71% are not confident, only 13% are confident and a further 16% don’t know.
• The  most confident group where those aged over 65. However only 25% of this age group expressed confidence even though this age group is closest to retirement age.
• The least confident group are those aged between 45 and 54 – only 7% of this group is confident whilst 78% are not.

“It’s not surprising given the state of the economy that people are concerned if the State pension can continue at the current rate.” said Jim Connolly Head of Pensions at Standard Life. “These results confirm that people cannot purely rely on the State to fund their long term financial needs. More people should be encouraged to take responsibility for their long term financial needs and it’s really important that Government policy make private pensions an attractive option.” he added

One of the areas that would make pensions more attractive is to make them more flexible. In the same survey – nearly half of those surveyed said they would save more into a pension if they could access some of the fund before retirement. Interestingly this feature was most likely to appeal to younger people. 60% of 35-44 year olds said they would save more into a pension if they were more accessible.

More than one in four expect to retire at age 70 or more

When asked what age people think they will retire,

• The average expected retirement age is 65.1
• More than one in four (26%) expect to retire at age 70 or more
• Only 9% expect to retire before they reach 60

Notes for Editors

These results are based on an independent online survey conducted by Research Plus Ltd on behalf of Standard Life of 1,003 adults aged 18+, in the Republic of Ireland between 23^rd March – 2^nd April 2012.