45% of working age people not saving toward a pension at all

[FernFaery]

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2026/may/19/britons-not-saving-enough-retire-pensions-commission

Another looming crisis!

@frozendaisy I've been a witness to schools teaching any finance stuff and it's not done well

It will rise regardless of life expectancy due to affordability.

Full time minimum wage is enough to rent a room in shared accommodation. It’s not enough to live alone but if you’re on minimum wage you can’t afford to live alone anyway.

You would need a pension pot of 320k to achieve the current state pension assuming moderate growth of 5% and a yearly increase in contributions of the rate of inflation. As others have said for those who are working this is a lot of money when people are already struggling. This is also why I simply don’t agree with means testing the state pension, essentially people will pay in twice to possibly be in the same position as someone who has never contributed. I would prefer a system that used tax contributions for those working ti top up individuals pot and incentives for those on benefits to work to achieve a better pension.

Why would a young person on minimum wage who perhaps is never likely to earn more than nmw break their back to contribute to be in the same position as someone who had never worked/ worked very little. I’d be enjoying my life whilst I was young and could!

quite clearly they’re not gonna live that long. Are they?
Life expectancy is being reduced not increased, people working as lorry drivers aren’t going to live past 60 with their lifestyles and actually the phlebotomist probably have a lot to give in training roles.
The jobs people will be doing in 20 years we don’t know about yet but chances are a hell of a lot of them will be sedentary with people sat on their arses not expending much in the way of physical energy which will lead to their early demise but that works in terms of affordability
What we cannot have is another generation who are economically inactive for 30 to 40 years

I have a friend that says "whats the point in saving; they don't let pensioners starve, its just going from one set of benefits to another"

In some ways she is right. Why should hard working people bother burying hundreds of pounds a month away, when people who dont want to sacrifice to make that saving will be taken care of.

I wouldn’t have listened at 15 yo be fair and I was a fairly decent grammar school girl.

Schools do have a go, and they can’t do everything and replace parenting, plus some personal responsibility once you enter the adult world.

Those getting benefits though won’t see any change it’ll be just the taxpayers/workers that do.

lorry drivers lifestyles?! Clearly no one will live to 85?! What?

you literally said people should work until they die and not retire. The consequences of that are clearly, elderly people doing jobs

There’s old age and then there’s old age though. Many many people are physically and mentally fit enough to work into their 70’s. I’m in farming where many ex farm workers retire full time aged around 65 but pull a 40-60 hour week self employed in the summer months well into their late 70’s. Great bit of income for them, keeps them busy.

There are clearly a huge number of people who can’t afford to save on a monthly basis. But a lot of people who are self smolyed have other retirement plans. I’m technically one of those people not saving but will be fine in retirement. But I also wonder if at the other end of the spectrum the IHT tax changes are having an impact. Our advisers have definitely shifted from pensions.

I think it’s really daft the way people pretend we can cram a lifetime of experience into the school curriculum and that some how 15 year olds will remember it, understand it, and won’t be able to make the mistakes every generation has made before them 🙄

This. I certainly don’t have enough to save for a pension.

The writing is on the wall that they are going to start to withdraw life lengthening procedures. I already happens with the postcode lottery.

Obviously, we had the odd even back in Victorian times that made it to 85 but they need to become the exception rather than the rule again in order to make the economic system work. That will take precedence over anything else.

Saving £80 a month in your pension from the age of 20, with an employer’s matched contribution would get you about around £1000 a month in pension. That would effectively double what you get on state pension. Assuming you have a mortgage paid off, which many do, £2k a month isn’t overly shabby, and is definitely better than not having it. You may also be eligible for pension credit, and income support.

Those who say it would be impossible for most people to save in a pension because they have no spare money are being rather economical with the truth. There will absolutely be people who are on a minimum wage and might struggle to have anything to spare at all.

According to the ONS, despite the cost of living, travel remains a priority for people with less than 20% of people opting to have a cheaper U.K. holiday or going without. Annually, as a nation we spend £78.6 billion on overseas travel annually. We spend £63.75 billion on takeaway food. £27.4 billion on alcohol to drink at home and £24 billion in pubs. We spent £14 billion in pensions. We spend 12 times as much on holidays, drink and takeaway food than we do on pensions.

The problem we have in the U.K. isn’t that people can’t afford to save in a pension, it’s that it isn’t made a priority. Nobody would ever suggest you give up every nice thing in order to save for a pension, but for most people who are working an average job on an average wage, £80 quid a month isn’t not a major sacrifice, and when your employer matches your contribution it’s money for your future you are leaving on the table.

For those who are parents, the best 18th birthday gift you can give your child is to start a pension for them.

Of course I know how expensive rents are in some areas. I rented for years in my twenties. Could only ever afford a room in a shared house! No one should be paying 51% of their wages on rent and if they are, they either they live alone when they could rent a room or they are living in a area in which accommodation is much too expensive for their salary. I could never afford afford to live in London for example. So I don’t!

I’ve seen this figure bandied about and I don’t get it. My pension pot isn’t quite at this level, but it will yield me significantly more than the state pension.

I would need to save at least 400 percent of my income each month to end up with a decent pension pot. This obviously isn't happening and hardly any saving is happening because I have to fix my leaky roof, replace my knackered windows and assorted other pricey home repairs. As wages have stagnated for the past decade at least I can't do more.

I’m well aware of that but thanks anyway!

This is the third wildly different estimate of what £80 a month pension gets you

What do you think life will be like as a pensioner with no resources and being too old to do anything about it.

I’m not surprised at this at all.
if you earn enough not to get benefits you don’t get much help with uni for your teens, no child benefit, have to pay for food, drink, escalating bills, I’ve paid child care, not worked due to a disabled child, so reduced to one income but same bills, never been able to put anything into a pension I’m just coping with day to day tbh.

But imagine you and DH with no resources when retired and no way of doing anything about it

Another one living in a bubble who thinks 80 quid a month is nothing.

We have a go with our teens

Then they come out with such starry eyed flourishes of “well I will work and pay tax then die”

oh ny lord

they forget we probably have to bank roll them for another decade at least!
to us staring open mouthed like they know what a bill actually is

although there is a glimmer of hope once they were earning and spending their own money on fizzy drinks they soon figured out it was “oh my god mum” much cheaper at the local newsagent than the local supermarket express - progress!

they will enter the world of rent bills and tax soon enough and then live with it for decades - let them drink cost effective Coke Zero whilst they can!

What could you do to rectify it? It won’t magically change! You need to be proactive!