Savers losing faith in company pensions

Pensions savers are losing faith in company schemes to provide for their retirement, with just two in five believing they will provide an adequate income, according to Scottish Widows.

In its latest annual snapshot of Britain’s retirement savings culture, Widows found pension savings is generally improving, but notes the gap between men and women is widening.

The survey found just 40% of pensions savers are confident their company pension will provide them with a reasonable standard of living in retirement, down from 51% in 2007.

Despite this, savings levels have improved, with average savings increasing to 9.3% in 2009, up from 8.7% last year and the highest figure recorded by Scottish Widows since 2005.

Overall, the percentage of people saving adequately for their retirement has risen from 51% in 2008 to 54% today, but women continue lag behind.

The number of women not saving at all for their retirement has hit 26%, compared with just 15% of men.  Self employed people are also less likely to be saving in the economic downturn, with a third not saving at all.

Ian Naismith, head of pensions market development at Scottish Widows, says: “We have consistently seen groups such as women and the self-employed falling behind when it comes to pensions savings.

“The impact of the economic downturn is likely to make these groups even more vulnerable when saving for retirement and there needs to be more done to better encourage everyone to save for the future.  In particular it seems that many women over 50 have almost given up on saving for retirement.”

Naismith says the Government and industry need to do more to promote pensions saving for the long-term, particularly in light of the worsening economic climate.