Britons 'world's most retirement-savvy'

In spite of all the pensions doom and gloom around at the moment, new research suggests that Britons are in fact among the most retirement-savvy in the world.

According to Axa, Britons start to plan for their retirement younger than any other nation in the world, at an average age of 28.

This is even before they purchase their first property, with the average first-time buyer aged 29, Council of Mortgage Lenders figures show.

While Canadian and North American workers come close behind the British by starting their retirement planning at the age of 30, French, German and Italian workers don't get started until 31 and Spanish workers wait until they are 33.

Britons put a considerable ten per cent of their salary towards retirement income on average and are typically better off when they become pensioners than their European counterparts. While the average UK retiree has £271 a month to play with after living expenses, French, Italian and Spanish retirees say they do not have enough money to cover their living costs.

However, with a third of Britons relying on property to secure a retirement income, Axa had a word of warning.

"By the time they retire, people are often [loath] to move away from their friends and family or rob their children of their inheritance by handing over their home to an equity release company. This can scupper plans to take an income from the equity in their home," said head of pensions and savings policy at Axa Steve Folkard.

Equities 'good idea' for early years of retirement

Holding some shares or stock market-based funds can be a good thing in the early years of a retirement plan, it has been claimed.

Chief executive of Saga Personal Finance Steve Ashton said that while everybody's personal circumstances were different, people who held retirement funds completely in cash were exposed to inflation.

Mr Ashton said that as people were living longer they could find that their fixed income erodes in value as inflation eats into it over the extra years.

He commented: "Because if people are going to live 15, 20 or 25 more years, having exposure to the equity markets - on balance - is a good thing, as opposed to being completely in cash."

He added that increasing numbers of older people are using the internet and becoming interested in areas such as online share dealing, with Saga recently launching a Fantasy Share Dealing game.

New research from Abbey Savings revealed that the personal household wealth of those aged over 50 has grown by 45.6 per cent in the past five years.

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