Published Monday 24th February 2025
Published Monday 24th February 2025
Research undertaken in December 2024 by Get Britain Pension Ready revealed a retirement readiness challenge facing Generation X, those born between 1965 and 1981.
Just 28% of Gen X are on track to meet a savings goal that would allow them to live comfortably throughout retirement.
65% of Gen X no longer have access to final salary pension schemes, despite 45% saying they were available when they first started working.
30% of Gen X respondents said auto-enrolment wasn’t introduced in time to make a significant difference in their overall pension savings.
While 40% of overall respondents are on track with their retirement savings goal that would allow them to live comfortably throughout retirement, Generation X faces the greatest challenge, with only 28% saying they're on track to meet their targets. This is significantly behind Gen Z (50%), Millennials (47%), and Baby Boomers (37%)*.
“After taking to the streets again to talk to Brits about pensions, it is clear Gen X are not alone in the challenge of becoming retirement ready. With the cost of living rising, people across different generations are balancing their daily expenses and pension contributions with their long-term savings and retirement dreams. This has left many Brits unsure if and when they will be able to retire comfortably.
“Education campaigns like Get Britain Pension Ready are so important to help us all cut through the jargon. The earlier we can help people get the information they need to feel retirement ready, the better.”
Angellica Bell, Ambassador for the Get Britain Pension Ready campaign
Nearly one in six (17%) members of Generation X say they’re worried about never being able to fully retire, with an overwhelming majority (78%) indicating that they won’t have enough money saved to do so.
Further to an overall lack of savings, the other leading reasons why Generation X doubt they'll ever be able to retire include feeling as though the cost of living will be too high (66%) and not thinking state pension will be available or sufficient (59%).
17% of Gen X say they’re worried about never being able to fully retire.
Of those 78% don’t think they will have enough money saved to retire.
66% feel the cost of living will be too high and 59% don’t think state pension will be available or sufficient.
The survey commissioned by Annuity Ready, on behalf of the Get Britain Pension Ready campaign, found that over a quarter (26%) of respondents across all age groups indicate they will need upwards of £500,000 to live comfortably in retirement.
The research from the education campaign exposes why Generation X face a more complex retirement planning process than other generations, due to many missing out on final salary pension schemes - a type of retirement plan that offered a guaranteed income for life based on factors such as salary, length of service, and the rate at which pension benefits build up.
Of those that fall under the Generation X age bracket, nearly half (45%) indicate that a final salary pension scheme was available through their employer when they first started working. Yet, as final salary pension schemes were phased out, 65% of Generation X respondents say the scheme is no longer available to them as a pension savings option.
For this generation born between 1965 and 1981, a new pension savings option was introduced later into their career. The auto-enrolment pension scheme now requires employers to automatically enroll employees into a pension scheme and make contributions to their pensions.
However, 30% of respondents that fall under the Generation X bracket say the auto-enrolment pension scheme wasn’t introduced in-time and it has made no notable difference to their pension savings amount. In fact, the research found that the average number of years worked by Brits at the time auto-enrolment was introduced was over 15 years.
“Retirement should be something to look forward to, but our research reveals that too many members of the British public instead feel anxious, overwhelmed, and fearful of making the wrong financial decisions.
“There’s a wide range of pension options to choose from. The industry has an obligation to provide everyone with the means to understand them and support the people of Britain to take charge of their financial futures.
“No one, from any background, should get left behind. We’re encouraging everyone to get pension ready with our free online resources and seek the guidance they need, to understand all the financial options available to them when they come to retire.”
Rotimi Merriman-Johnson (Mr MoneyJar), Independent Expert for Get Britain Pension Ready
Interestingly, 80% of all respondents said they would welcome a guaranteed income, if it meant they would receive a regular income for the rest of their life in retirement.
Yet, when respondents across all generations were asked about their understanding of the pension options available to them today, many (31%) say they’re unaware of what annuity products are or what they do. This is despite annuities being a pension option that offers a regular income, usually for the rest of your life, in exchange for a lump sum payment.
Nevertheless, over half (58%) of all those surveyed report that the entire financial retirement process feels like navigating a complex minefield due to their lack of knowledge, up marginally from 57% last year when the annual survey first took place.
“Brits across the board are feeling the pressure, with an alarming number of people worried they might never be able to retire. And still a large number of people feel that the entire retirement planning process is like ‘navigating a complex minefield’. This shows not enough is being done to make sure that everyone has the resources and understanding they need to prepare effectively.
“Education is such a fundamental part of pension preparedness, and the earlier we can get people the information they need to start planning for retirement the better. Annuity Ready remains committed to providing access to the resources people need, so that when we say Britain is Pension Ready, we mean everyone.”
Sarah Lloyd, Commercial Director at Annuity Ready
Everyone can get pension ready by using free educational resources available at getpensionready.com, to better understand their options and make informed decisions about their financial future. This includes a Retirement Readiness Quiz, which uses a simple scoring system to help Brits discover any gaps in their retirement planning knowledge and points them towards helpful resources based on their score.
Research was conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Annuity Ready and surveyed 2,000 adults living in the UK in December 2024.
