Over-55s keep the pension faith despite cost-of-living squeeze

Our latest research shows that over-55s have maintained their focus on pension savings despite the temptation to cut back in the face of the cost-of-living crisis.

The research* found less than one in three (31%) of over-55s saving into company or personal pensions have reduced the amounts they contribute or stopped entirely in the past 12 months as bills have soared.

By contrast, nearly two out of five (39%) of under 35s have cut back and 35% of those aged between 35 and 44 – and it is also savers ages over 55 who are less likely to have cut back on pension saving in the past.

We found nearly a quarter (23%) of retirement savers who have cut back on retirement savings in the past year have done so multiple times and 45% have done so at least once before. The comparable figures for over-55s are 17% and 34%.

More than half (54%) of under-35s who have cut back on pension savings in the past 12 months say they have reduced payments before with 28% saying they have reduced or stopped payments at least once.

However, the research found that it is over-55s who are least likely to restart pension savings after stopping or reducing it in the past 12 months. Around a fifth (22%) say they will not restart which is double the number for the UK as a whole.

iSIPP Managing Director Hrishi Kulkarni said: “It is encouraging that savers over 55 have largely been able to maintain pension savings despite the continuing financial pressures from high inflation and rising interest rates.

“It is also interesting that they are less likely to have cut pension savings in the past which should help their final retirement income as they will have had the benefit of savings as much as possible for as long as possible. Younger generations still have time to recover from the financial shocks of the past few years and should where possible prioritise pensions.”

Here at iSIPP, we specialise in UK and international customers who wish to consolidate their UK pensions. Sign-up is easy at www.isipp.co.uk and we offer regular and ad-hoc contributions. Our service is particularly suited to the self-employed and contractors or those who have become self-employed recently as they can combine all their existing pensions.

Our free to set up service has no dealing charges or charges to transfer in existing pension funds . We enable clients to create their own investment portfolio, complementing our existing ‘Choice’ range of Ready-Made funds from world-leading fund managers BlackRock and Schroders.

Our digital pension consolidation service is available to all customers with UK pension funds who are working or have worked in the UK. Built around flexibility, we provide access to over 100 funds under our ‘Create’ option allowing users to build their own portfolio. Our ‘Choice’ range include Ready-Made Portfolios from world-leading fund managers BlackRock and Schroders. BlackRock’s multi-asset, risk-managed MyMap range of funds are available which include an ESG fund and we also provide access to the Schroders’s Shariah compliant fund. Focusing on transparency, the annual trust fee is £200 plus a 0.25% platform services fee. Funds with OCF (Ongoing Charges Figure) start at as low as 0.16%.

* Study conducted by independent research company Opinium among a nationally representative sample of 2,000 UK adults aged 18-plus between January 10th and 13th 2023 using an online methodology.

Disclaimer

iSIPP are not authorised or regulated to provide financial advice.  This article is for information purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice or as a personal recommendation.  Pension rules are subject to changes in the future.   The value of pensions and investments can rise as well as fall.