_{Wednesday 10th February 2010}

Millions of people who are fast approaching retirement with a combination of a large mortgage and no savings and are living in denial, according to pensions experts.

A survey by Aviva found that over a quarter of those approaching retirement have mortgages and in one fifth of cases they are £75,000 or more. In addition, the figures show that over 40% of those questioned are not saving any money either in the form of savings or an ISA.  The average savings from the survey recipients is £8,600 when they retire, which would be completely wiped out in the need of cash for an emergency.

The research highlights the factors of financial and social change in the UK with many parents remortgaging their houses so that their children can afford to get on the property ladder, or using their properties to gain equity from in order to fund businesses or pay off debt.

The drop in pension value over the past decade has left today’s pensioners worse off today than they would have been in the same period in 2000. The average person paying £100 a month for 20 years into a pension fund would have retired with a total fund of £103,914. Today, to achieve the same amount £355 a month would have to be paid in to the same fund.

Although there still are those who are successfully saving over £100,000 for their retirement, the survey by Aviva found that this was just 18% of the 1,200 people questioned.

These statistics are showing just why pensioners keep on working once they have reached retirement age as they just simply cannot afford not to. It is estimated that 1.4 million people over the retirement age are still working. In 2009 6,592 pensioners were declared insolvent, with the figure expected to rise to 8,000 this year.

The figures show just how important it is to have a properly organised retirement plan in place in order to live your retirement years in luxury. If you would like more information on retirement planning and your pension, please contact us.

_{Source: Daily Mail ‘A generation in denial: Millions face retirement poverty because they've remortgaged their homes and saved too little’ 10/02/2010}

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