One Fifth Regrets Not Saving for Retirement Sooner

Almost a fifth (18%) of those aged 55 or over say that not saving for retirement early enough is their biggest financial regret, research from Standard Life and YouGov has found.

According to the survey, the 5 biggest financial regrets for those over 55 are:

• Not saving for retirement earlier (18%)
• Accumulating debt on credit and store cards (16%)
• Not sticking to a budget (6%)
• Spending lots on nights out (5%)
• Not investing in stocks and shares ISAs (5%)

The biggest regret for all other generations is running up debt on credit and store cards. A fifth (21%) of 35-44-year-olds said this is their number 1 regret, while just 12% of 18-24-year-olds said the same.

The survey also looked at how people plan to save for their retirement this tax year:

• 20% plan to save into their workplace pension
• 10% intend to save into their personal pension
• 15% of 25-34-year-olds are planning to add to their personal pension

Julie Hutchison, spokesperson for Standard Life, said:

"This new research should come as a wake-up call to the many people who aren't saving enough for when they retire. The value in starting to save early is clear in terms of increased potential for growth.

"We also know from previous research that parents often find they need to de-prioritise their own saving when they are older, to help support their adult children with large expenditure such as university fees and deposits for their first homes. So trying to close up a savings gap later on in life can be really tricky.

"We should all learn from the experience of baby boomers and start saving as soon as we're able to, so we don't share the same regret when we're older."