Cost of living leaves no room for pension

Almost half of Irish adults do not have a pension, and more than one-third of those blame rent and other day-to-day bills for making it impossible for them to afford contributions.

That’s according to the Matrix Recruitment Pension, which also reported that, when it came to pensions, males outnumbered females – with 60% of men have a pension as opposed to 48% of women.

Of the 52% surveyed who do contribute to a pension, two fifths (41%) say that they are not confident that their pension will be enough to live off in retirement, based on current contribution rates.

A further 31% responded that they simply didn’t know if their pension would be enough for retirement.

The state pension age became one of the hottest topics of debate between the political parties and the electorate in the run-up to last weekend’s General Election.

Given that the research was conducted during the election campaign period, it raises the question as to whether the heightened awareness and conversation around pensions impacted the findings.

The survey also found that 29% of adults without a pension are planning to start one this year – and more than two thirds (69%) of those with a pension said that they planned to increase their contributions in the future.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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