Gen Z adults ‘risk creating retirement shortfalls amid living costs squeeze’

More than half (53%) of Gen Z adults aged 18 to 29 could be at risk of reducing their pension contributions over the next year or may have already stopped them, a survey indicates.

The research, commissioned by pensions-finding platform Raindrop, found that younger adults indicated they were particularly at risk of sacrificing their longer term savings to get by in the short term.

More than a third (35%) of Millennials aged 30 to 45, 19% of Gen X adults aged 46 to 61, and 18% of Baby Boomers aged 62 to 80 could also be at risk of this, the research indicated.

The survey was carried out by Opinium, surveying 2,000 adults across the UK in August.

Nearly half (48%) of Gen Z adults believe they will have to work longer than originally planned to compensate for savings gaps, and nearly half (47%) are concerned that they will have a savings shortfall for their retirement, the research indicated.

Vivan Shridharani, co-founder and chief commercial officer at Raindrop, which works with pension providers and other financial firms, said: “Missing out on compound growth and employer contributions early in a career can mean tens of thousands of pounds lost by retirement age – if not more.”

The research was released as the Pensions Policy Institute said that more than three million UK pension pots, with an average value of around £6,000, are estimated to be “lost”.

About 2.5 million lost pots are thought to be held by people aged under 55.

A lost pension was defined in the PPI research as one where the provider is unable to contact the owner of the pot.