Nearly a quarter of pension savers ‘review their pots less than once a year’

Nearly half of pension savers are not confident that they have put enough thought into their retirement plans, according to People’s Partnership.

Vicky Shaw
Wednesday 13 September 2023 00:01 BST
Some 16% of retirement savers have never reviewed their pensions, according to People’s Partnership (PA)
Some 16% of retirement savers have never reviewed their pensions, according to People’s Partnership (PA) (PA Archive)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Around one in six (16%) retirement savers have never reviewed their pensions, according to a survey.

The research, released during Pension Awareness Week, (September 11 to 15), indicates that nearly a quarter (24%) of savers review their pension pots less than once every year.

A fifth (20%) check their pension once a year and one in nine (11%) check once every six months, the YouGov research, commissioned by People’s Partnership, found.

Nearly half (45%) of pension savers surveyed said they are not confident that they have put enough thought into their retirement plans.

Nearly a third (32%) of men surveyed said they do feel confident about their preparations for retirement, compared with 18% of women.

There are simple steps that a person can take to ensure that they are better prepared for retirement, including signing up for an online pension account, naming a beneficiary, reading your annual statement and ensuring your details are updated so your provider can stay in touch

Kevin Martin, People's Partnership

Nine per cent of men surveyed said they review their pensions once a week or more, compared with just 1% of women.

Kevin Martin, group director of customer services at People’s Partnership, said: “It’s clear from our research that many workers are ill-prepared for retirement, which is a concern given that we know that millions of workers are not saving enough.

“There are simple steps that a person can take to ensure that they are better prepared for retirement, including signing up for an online pension account, naming a beneficiary, reading your annual statement and ensuring your details are updated so your provider can stay in touch.”

More than 2,100 people were surveyed by YouGov for the research.

Here are some tips from the People’s Partnership to help people become more engaged with their pensions:

1. Sign up for an online account with your pension provider.

2. Make sure your personal and contact details are up-to-date.

3. Read your annual statement, checking the projected savings that your current level of contributions will give you.

4. Name the person you want to benefit from your pension in the event of your early death.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in