Employer pension schemes were said to be the safest, ranked by 41% of the population, followed by property, at 28%, which remained constant with the period July 2012 to June 2014.
The ONS Wealth and Assets Survey for the period July 2014 to December 2015 saw continued faith in employer schemes, rated as the most reliable method of saving since July 2010 to June 2012, when 35% of those questioned considered it to be the safest method of retirement savings.
Employer schemes and property ranked higher than personal pensions, ISA savings and higher rate savings accounts, according to the report.ONS said the results reflected growing confidence in property prices since July 2010, alongside a decrease in savings and ISA accounts due to low interest rates and the consequent attitude towards investments.
Low income and inability to afford pension contributions were cited as the biggest reasons for not saving for retirement, while roughly half of respondents said they lacked confidence that they would have sufficient income to fund their retirement.
Catherine Pinkney, founder of Paycircle – an employee benefits provider, said: “Despite robust changes to the pensions landscape over the past couple of years – and a number of high-profile pension scheme ‘black holes’ continuing to hit the press – employer pensions are still considered the safest ways to save for retirement.“A proportion of this success is down to the government’s automatic enrolment rollout – giving a huge swathe of employees a chance to save for their retirement.“Yet in spite of a concerted – and often colourful – campaign by the regulator to raise awareness of the workplace pensions overhaul, around a third of UK staff responded that they still know little, if anything, about auto-enrolment.”
