Becoming

Have you been putting more thought into your retirement saving recently? If the answer is yes, you’re not alone. Well, new research suggests that, as the retirement savings revolution continues to roll out, many of us are indeed turning our minds more to making preparations for a comfortable future.

An annual retirement report from Scottish Widows has found 56% of people aged 30 and over are now saving adequately for their retirement.

This is the highest proportion it has seen since its records started in 2005.

So what does “saving adequately” actually mean?

We all have different expectations how much money we might need to on in our retirement.

But generally, Scottish Widows defined someone as saving adequately if they have a salary of at least £10,000 and are either putting aside at least 12% of their income for their retirement, including any employer contributions, or they expect their main pension to come from a “gold-plated” defined benefits scheme which offers a guaranteed level of income, such as a final salary pension.

The research tracks the percentage of men aged between 30 and 64, and women aged 30 to 59, who are deemed to be saving adequately for their retirement. of live

Men were more likely to be saving adequately for their later years, at 60% compared with 52% of women.

And for the first time in 10 years, the average proportion of earnings being put away each month towards retirement has reached the 12% recommended by the report.

However, it is important to bear in mind that even though you might be saving at this level, the report says you are still likely to experience some sort of fall in your living standards compared with when you were working.

So what’s behind the turnaround?

It could partly be due to the improving economy, with some people feeling more able to put more aside for their old age.

And with so many headlines about pensions in recent years, it could also be down to people thinking more about pension saving and starting to grasp the nettle when it comes to making provision for their later years.

More than five million people have now been inducted into workplace pension schemes as a result of automatic enrolment, which started in 2012 and so far, the scheme has been seen as a success, with around nine in 10 people