大象传媒

An exclusive survey commissioned by 大象传媒 Inside Out programme reveals new evidence on why millions of British adults do not have a private pension.听

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Around half of British adults aged between 18 and 60 (48%) said they did not have a pension. Being unable to afford a pension right now is the primary reason given for not having one. 39% of those without a pension gave this reason.听

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There are clear differences in the take up of private pensions by gender, age and socio-economic grade.

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More than two thirds (67%) of adults in the AB socio-economic grades have a private pension; compared with less than a third (31%) in DE grades, according to the ComRes survey.

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Invest elsewhere?听

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Perhaps most interesting for the pensions industry is the fact that one in five (21% of those without a pension) say they are investing their money in other schemes such as property and long-term savings.听听

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A similar number of people without pensions (18%) say they don鈥檛 trust pensions companies while 14% think pensions are 鈥渢oo confusing鈥� and the same proportion (14%) believe they wouldn鈥檛 get a good enough return on the money they invested.

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The survey comes as the government continues to promote new workplace pensions through auto-enrolment. The Pensions Regulator announced last week that more than 4.4million workers are now investing money in such schemes.听听听

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Tom Mludzinski, Head of Political Polling at ComRes, says: 鈥淲ith auto-enrolment being rolled out, this poll reveals some of the problems people perceive to exist around pensions.

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"Clearly a significant section of the British population feel they are either unable or reluctant to invest their money in this way.听听听

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鈥淭here is a clear sense that many Britons feel disempowered with regard to private pensions 鈥� whether economically or through a lack of knowledge or trust.鈥澨�听

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Too young for a pension?听

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The second most common reason for not having a pension is the widely-held belief that people are 鈥渢oo young鈥� to think about pensions (28%) 鈥� this belief is held by almost three quarters (72%) of those aged between 18 and 24 who do not have a pension, compared to just 2% of those aged between 45 and 54.

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Pensions Minster, Steve Webb, told Inside Out: 鈥淭he first thing we鈥檝e got to do is get millions of people into a pension at all 鈥� particularly starting with young people. And then we鈥檝e got to build on that basic minimum level.听

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The minister also highlighted the new auto-enrolment workplace pensions as the way forward.听

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Asked about charges imposed by some pensions companies he said: 鈥淚n the past too many people have been ripped off frankly with pensions. These new workplace pensions will be different because we are going to cap the charges. From next April more than 99 pence in the pound - that you put into a pension - will go into the pension, not into charges."听

鈥淭hey will be the best value pensions, particularly because your firm is putting money in as well 鈥� one of the best things you can invest in.鈥澨�

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Could you live on 拢20 a day?听

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Pensions expert, Dr Ros Altmann, says: 鈥淭he main message has to be 鈥� if you don鈥檛 save for your later life, what are you going to live on?听

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鈥淭he state pension, certainly for those who are relatively young now, is changing dramatically, and from 2016 onwards younger people will know that when they get to retirement the state pension is going to be around 拢20 a day.听

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鈥淣ow if you think you鈥檇 be happy living on 拢20 a day for the rest of your life when you鈥檝e reached retirement, fine, don鈥檛 do anything.听听

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"But if you think you might want more than 拢20 a day to have a decent lifestyle, then unless you do some saving now you won鈥檛 have any money coming in from that pension later.鈥�

大象传媒 Inside Out's survey asked which two or three of the following are the most important reasons why you do not take out a pension?

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ComRes interviewed 2,111 British adults aged between 18 and 60听during August 2014.

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Reasons for not taking out a pension

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I can鈥檛 afford a pension right now - 39%

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I鈥檓 too young to think about pensions - 28%

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I just haven鈥檛 got round to it yet - 27%

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I鈥檝e invested my money in other things, such as property and long-term savings - 21%

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I don鈥檛 trust pensions companies - 18%

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I鈥檓 concerned that I wouldn鈥檛 get enough back for the money I put in - 14%

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I find it too confusing - 14%

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I鈥檇 rather have the money today - 11%

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I will be able to manage on the state pension - 6%

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Other - 11%

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Don鈥檛 know - 1%

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Source: 大象传媒 Inside Out ComRes survey - 2014.

大象传媒 Inside Out meets 83-year-old Charles West who says he cannot afford to retire after a career in sales where he was never able to save enough for his retirement.

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He works in a call centre in Sunderland where he is the oldest employee. Charles explains why he is still working and advises young people to build up a pension before it is too late.

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