The warning has been issued to those who solely rely on State Pension
State pensioners who depend on the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) state pension have been issued a warning. Claimants in the UK have given their take on how much support they are receiving from the Government.
Over 70% of UK savers believe that the Labour Party government is not providing enough support for retirement preparation following the Autumn Budget. A survey by Penfold, involving 340 participants, indicated a significant decline in saver confidence following the Chancellor’s announcements.
The digital workplace pension provider found that 72% of savers feel the government is neglecting to support retirement planning. In contrast, 58.5% reported feeling less confident about their financial future after the Budget. These results suggest an increase in anxiety due to uncertainty over future retirement regulations. Indeed, savers expressed worries about rising state pension ages, changing rules, and fears that the state pension may not exist in its current form when they retire, reports Birmingham Live.
The Budget’s proposal to limit National Insurance (NI) relief on salary sacrifice from 2029, coupled with the establishment of a new state pension commission, has added to this uncertainty. Over a third of respondents (36.3%) stated they are now unsure whether to increase or decrease their pension contributions, indicating a growing hesitancy that Penfold labelled as “disruptive” to long-term planning.
Penfold CEO and co-founder, Chris Eastwood, said: “When more than a third of savers can’t decide whether to increase or reduce their pension contributions, it’s a clear signal that confidence has been disrupted. Pension saving relies on stability and long-term decision making, and right now many people feel unable to move forward.”
He branded the forthcoming cap on salary sacrifice NI relief as “a backward step for boosting pension saving” and suggested that reconsidering the state pension through a new commission showed the current system is “under pressure” and likely to change.
“For today’s savers, it reinforces a simple truth: relying on the state pension alone won’t deliver the retirement most people hope for,” he cautioned.
“Sudden changes make it harder for people to plan and harder for the public to trust the system,” he said.
Eastwood said: “If contributions drop or planning is delayed, millions of savers could face a retirement far less secure than they expect. This Budget highlights why private pension planning has never been more important, and why uncertainty must be addressed immediately.”
