'Heartening' increase in those saving enough for retirement

The number of people saving adequately for retirement is the highest it has been since 2009 – standing at 53% - Scottish Widows has said. The proportion has gone up from 45% last year - the biggest ever year-on-year rise found since firm began its annual retirement reports 10 years ago.The monthly amount people are saving towards retirement outside a pension has also increased by 141% from £54 in 2006 to £130 in 2014.However, 33% said they had no idea of the extent to which their pensions, savings and investments will meet their retirement income needs and 32% did not believe they will be better prepared for their retirement than their parents were.The total amount people have in savings and investments was at its highest ever level; an average of £40,000 per person.Scottish Widows said auto-enrolment is playing an important role in increasing the number of people preparing adequately for retirement, with the average proportion of earnings put aside for employees of companies with 250 staff or more increasing from 9.7% to 11.6%.{desktop}{/desktop}{mobile}{/mobile}Ian Naismith, pensions expert at Scottish Widows, said: "A decade of tracking retirement savings trends has shown us the impact that events such as the recession, auto-enrolment and the recent Budget announcements have had on the nation's savings behaviour."It is heartening to see that finally people are starting to sit up and take notice of the importance of planning for the future – whether this be through proactively upping their contributions due to a more favourable economic climate, or starting to make plans for their retirement for the first time thanks to auto-enrolment."However, he expressed concerns for the groups such as the self-employed or part time workers who are not "preparing adequately" and risk "slipping through the net".Chris Williams chief executive of the online consumer advisory service Wealth Horizon, said: "The report's findings are a glowing endorsement of the changing British attitude to saving and investing for retirement. In the last decade the culture of spending and borrowing has been overhauled and people are taking a more sustainable approach to their finances."While the outlook is positive for much of the younger generation who still have time to make a significant impact on their retirement fund there are still concerns for those who have, or who are about to, retire."This lost generation have seen their retirement funds eaten away by high inflation and an unstable economy that has offered poor returns on their investments."

'Heartening' increase in those saving enough for retirement

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