Pensions trend survey

Responding to newspaper reports today that low-income earners in Wales face potential poverty when they retire because they are not building up sufficient private pensions or other savings, Age Cymru spokesman Iwan Rhys Roberts says:

 “Pensioner poverty is already affecting 115,000 older people in Wales and we also know from figures from the DWP figures that 1 in 3 people in full-time employment do not have a private pension plan, so low income in older people is going to continue to be an issue for years to come.

“The picture painted by this survey clearly indicates that is that there is a sizeable section of society, who – for whatever reason, is not saving for retirement.

“While Age Cymru knows that not everyone is able to afford to put money aside for when they retire – especially in the current economic climate and with the cost of living on the rise, something clearly has to be done if we are going to tackle pensioner poverty for future generations.

“Auto-enrolment into workplace pensions will go some way towards addressing this problem, and this is why it is crucial that this happens in 2012, as set out by the Pensions Act 2008.

“This new system must also be accompanied by good independent information and guidance to allow people to make informed choices about their financial futures.

“The impact of auto-enrolment should become clearer by 2015 and at that stage there must also be an independent review of the long-term prognosis for retirement income which needs to consider whether these reforms are far-reaching enough.

“If future prospects remain a concern, politicians must bite the bullet and commit to raising the minimum level of employer contributions to auto-enrolled pensions, as well as the value and coverage of the State Pension.”