Eight things your (prospective) clients are banking their retirement on

Retirement planning is not just about pensions, but Scottish Widows’ latest workplace pension report reveals private pension saving does not loom as large in most portfolios as it should.

The provider asked 5,200 UK adults of varying incomes where they believe their retirement funding will come from. Below are their responses.

1) The state pension (50%)

This is currently a maximum of £102.15 for a single person, but it is to be replaced in 2015 by a £155 per week universal state pension. Even so, it will still only be equivalent to a £8,060 per year annuity.

2) Cash savings including cash ISAs (44%)

Nearly half respondents are relying on cash savings such as cash ISAs for their future, despite ISAs only offering tax relief on £3,600 per year to pensions' £50,000.

3) Company pensions (40%)

In the last year before auto-enrolment, just two in five people are relying on company provision to keep them in their old age. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), however, believes its reforms will double this number of people in future generations.

4) Personal pensions (35%)

After the personal pensions misselling scandal of the 1990s it is hardly surprising fewer and fewer people are choosing to save this way.

5) Income from property downsizing, sale or rental (28%)

Baby boomers who bought property cheap in the 1970s and made a killing during the property bubble have often extolled the virtues of their investment, claiming property is like a pension but one you can live in and access cash from. However the burst of the property bubble may leave many retirees thousands short of their desired retirement income.

6) Inheritance (22%)

A somewhat grisly source of income, inheritance is the only option on the list that relies on someone else dying at an opportune moment. These things, of course, can rarely be relied on, as cases of contested wills and surprising longevity suggest.

7) Spouse/partner's income (22%)

Often retirement incomes reflect working life incomes and in many cases, wives tend to rely on their husbands' pensions as they often relied on their salaries. However, with the general failure of higher-earning men to buy joint life annuities, there is a clear advice need here.

8) Investment bonds, endowments, equity ISAs (15%)

Though often only used by wealthier clients, it seems the popularity of these vehicles is increasing. A year ago just 10% of respondents listed these as their source of retirement income, Scottish Widows says.