Only 12% can survive on state pension

Worryingly, this figure only increases 1% to 13% for 66 to 70 year olds.

38% of those asked said that their basic cost of living is more than the state pension, while 32% suggested that they would look for part-time work to increase their income.

Others would cut back on everything but the essentials (32%) and 15% would look to downsize their property. In addition, 12% would look for suggestions on how to manage their money and 3% would look to their family and friends for support.

However, while 37% of 40 to 50 year olds said they would look for part-time work to increase their income, this falls to 26% of 66 to 70 year olds – suggesting that as people age, they may not be able to continue in employment for as long as they had anticipated.

Andrew Megson, Managing Director of Retirement, said:

“With the cost of living increasing and people struggling to reach common financial milestones such as purchasing a property, it is easy to understand how some reach retirement with little in the way of pension savings. This should improve with the advent of automatic enrolment but people do need to consider carefully just how much income they need to enjoy their retirement.

“Regularly putting money into a pension and ensuring that you have made sufficient contributions to be eligible for the full state pension are just two of the things that people can do to ensure that they never have to make the choice between heating and eating in retirement.”