British people are a nation of “pension procrastinators” by not starting to save for retirement early enough, according to a survey by Aegon.

The survey of over 800 adults, both in retirement and working age, found that over half (51 per cent) said their biggest savings regret was no starting early enough or taking a break from saving. The second biggest regret was not making a financial plan (14 per cent), while 12 per cent wished they had been more engaged and either joined their workplace pension scheme, or moved out of their default fund.

In addition, women (17 per cent) are more likely to regret not being engaged with joining a scheme or moving out of the default fund while men were more than twice as likely as women to regret not paying attention to costs/fees/charges (11 per cent).

Similarly, the biggest pension regret among people who had already retired was also putting off a saving decision (38 per cent), followed by poor planning (18 per cent). However, the third biggest pension regret among retired respondents was how they used their pension pot (14 per cent). This included taking tax-free cash when they didn’t need it, taking too much income too soon from their drawdown policy, buying an annuity and failing to buy an inflation linked annuity.

On a more positive note the survey also asked people about their best pension decisions to date. The best pension decision among those still working was joining their workplace pension or saving into a personal pension (42 per cent). This was followed by saving for retirement from an early age (19 per cent) and then paying extra into a workplace pension (18 per cent).

Men were more likely than women to say paying extra into their workplace pension was their best decision. While women were more likely than men to say saving for retirement from an early age was their best decision.

Commenting, Aegon pensions director Steven Cameron said: “With the state pension unlikely to provide an adequate income for most, saving into your workplace or personal pension is not something you can afford to delay. For many of us, it’s the most important saving pot we’ll ever have, so you want to give yourself the best chance of building it up over as a long a period as possible.

“By starting to save for retirement as early as possible, with time on your side, you have a better chance to avoid future regrets. It’s all too easy to put things off till tomorrow, and for those many years away from retirement, delaying paying into a pension, or putting off plans ‘till next year’ may look tempting. But our research shows that many people live to regret procrastinating. There’s a saying – smart people learn from their mistakes, wise people learn from the mistakes of others. When it comes to saving for retirement, it’s easy to fall into bad habits or make decisions you’ll later regret. But taking personal responsibility and making better financial decisions now will make all the difference to your future.”

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