One in ten retiring to a pension of less than £10,000

Published on Monday 16 March 2009 00:14

ONE in ten people retiring this year expects to have less than £10,000 a year to live on, a survey by insurer Prudential revealed yesterday.

The average person due to retire during 2009 expects to have an annual income of 17,779 from pensions and investments – 884 less than people retiring last year expected to have, and nearly a third less than the current level of average earnings.

Some 11 per cent of those surveyed said that they expected their pension would be less than 10,000.

Unsurprisingly, 61 per cent of those questioned did not think they would have enough money to enjoy a comfortable retirement.

Meanwhile, just 47 per cent of respondents said that they felt they were well prepared financially for when they gave up work.

Keith Haggart, director of lifetime mortgages at Prudential, said the findings showed the economic downturn was now affecting pensioners.

He said: "The global economic recession is relentless and indiscriminate in its impact, and it was only a matter of time before we began to see British pensioners bear the brunt."

• Research Plus questioned 1,000 people during November.