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Just 16% confident they are on track for desired retirement, research finds

Findings from PensionBee showed a gap between people’s aspirations for retirement and their financial preparedness.

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Just 16% confident they are on track for desired retirement, research finds
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Just 16% of UK adults have calculated how much they will need in retirement and feel confident they are on track to achieve their goals, according to research from PensionBee.

The findings showed a gap between people’s aspirations for retirement and their financial preparedness, despite 56% saying they feel hopeful or excited about their later years.

Spending more time with family was cited as a retirement ambition by 59%, while 55% wanted to travel and 51% hoped to have more time to rest.

However, 38% said they had no idea how much their desired retirement would cost, while 18% were confident they would achieve their retirement goals despite not knowing the cost.

The research also found that many people underestimated the income required for a comfortable retirement.

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More than three-quarters (77%) estimated the annual cost at below the £45,400 benchmark set by Pensions UK for a single person, while 47% believed £30,000 a year or less would be sufficient.

The latter figure is at least £15,400 below the comfortable retirement benchmark and below the £32,700 annual income Pensions UK associates with a moderate retirement.

The full new State Pension is £12,548 a year in 2026/27, leaving £32,852 to be funded through other income and savings for someone seeking the comfortable standard.

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Pensions UK estimated that around 9% of the working population is currently on track to achieve this level.

Affordability emerged as the biggest obstacle among the 39% of respondents who believed they had started retirement planning too late.

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Almost a third (32%) of this group said they could not afford to engage with their pension sooner, compared with 16% who did not know where to start and 12% who found pensions too complicated.

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Differences were also apparent between generations, with 42% of Gen Z respondents saying they felt anxious or overwhelmed by retirement or tried not to think about it.

Among Gen X, 48% believed they had left retirement planning too late.

Across all age groups, 43% said they did not seriously consider their pension until they were aged 36 or older, while 26% said nothing had yet made retirement feel real.

Maike Currie, VP personal finance at PensionBee, said: “Britons aren’t short of retirement dreams. What they’re short of is confidence that their finances will make those dreams a reality. That’s the irony in these findings.

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“People are far more certain about the retirement they want than they are about their ability to pay for it.

“For plenty of people, the barrier is money, not motivation. No amount of encouragement can fix a month that doesn’t balance.

“When the choice feels like paying today’s bills or funding a retirement decades away, today will win.”

She added: “But financial confidence can be built. For people who are in a position to take action, the first steps don’t need to be complicated. A retirement calculator can help put a rough price on the future they want.

“Finding out what they already have and bringing old pensions together can give them a clearer picture of where they stand. Turning a distant hope into something tangible that you can put a number on is a powerful first step.

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“Once you know what you’re aiming for, you can start making a plan to get there.”

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