Poorer in old age

According to Ros Altmann, a governor at the London School of Economics, we are looking at "impoverished old age" due to the uncertainty of the stock market. With the joint problems of the credit crunch and economic gloom, leads us to having less in the pot for our pensions. Compared with last year, a man with £50,000 in his pension pot would be £20 a week poorer by retiring today.

Altmann suggested that the return of investment on the stock markets have fallen over the last decade by almost 15 per cent compared with its performance over the previous decade. She said: "Essentially the entire UK pensions system has been based on a bet that equities would always do well enough over the long-term to deliver reliably good pensions. The old idea that stock markets can always be relied on to deliver strong returns has left millions facing an impoverished old age."

According to the report, private pension income will greatly assist in savers avoiding poverty later. She recommended new approaches to how we save for our retirement, such as insured pensions.

Age Concern and Help the Aged have already warned that a lot of people will keep on working beyond retirement age in order to be able to maintain a decent lifestyle later.

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