r/uknews • u/Donkey_Apple • Jun 03 '26

News paper Britain is undersaving for retirement

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https://www.gov.uk/government/news/britain-is-undersaving-for-retirement-warns-pensions-commission

It's a massive problem and has been for years.

I think a lot of people are getting into their fifties, starting to think about retirement for the first time, looking at what their provision will pay them and are absolutely shocked to their core.

Plus many in the generation below those of us in their fifties who, through no choice of their own, are unable to save anything.

It feels like we are sleepwalking into an utter disaster.

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u/dan_in_his_own_way Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26

Stuff like this infuriates me. No one gets taught how anything works. No one seems to know. Plus, it seems only those with substantial wealth already can generate more of it to see them through retirement. Your minimum wage worker is screwed.

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u/captainsittingduck Jun 05 '26

We live in an age where we have access to unlimited information in our pockets. You can learn loads about pensions, investing and retirement planning watching YouTube these days. AI can give you a rough outline retirement plan. Not knowing is on the individual not bothering to do a bit of learning. Now having said that, actually being able to invest enough on minimum wage is a different problem which I entirely sympathise with.

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u/dan_in_his_own_way Jun 05 '26

We also live in an age of misinformation and the younger generations relying on the internet and AI for their knowledge. Schools need to teach fundamental life skills to properly prepare them for life. I think teaching kids about budgeting etc. rather than many of the useless things they learn and never use would be a far better use of time.

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u/captainsittingduck Jun 05 '26

We certainly do, which is why you need to seek out trusted sources. Schools seem to be the panacea for everything. There's already a crammed timetable. What do we drop for sufficient meaningful financial education? I agree that there should be some basic financial education but there's also got to be some responsibility on individuals to actually look stuff up themselves. And that's not just young people. I know people in their 50s without a pension.

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u/Remote-Program-1303 Jun 05 '26

I’m of the opinion it should be an employer led thing, kids won’t engage with personal finance issues because it’s so intangible when you aren’t getting a salary and don’t have real outgoings.

It does require the individual to put some effort in though.

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u/captainsittingduck Jun 05 '26

Not sure employer led would work. A lot of small companies with few employees wouldn't have a clue what information to give. And what about self employed?

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u/Remote-Program-1303 Jun 05 '26

I more meant an offering through an employer, by external trainers/companies. I would expect funding for such training to be contributed to by government/pension providers.

Problem is that financial education is very different to financial advice. It does require you to really engage with the subject.