Just thirty-four per cent of employees believe their pension will be sufficient for retirement, according to the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF).

Research by the NAPF showed that 27 per cent of people would be more confident in pension saving if they were guaranteed not to lose any of the money paid in, and 26 per cent said they would like a guarantee that their pension income would not run out before they died.

And despite recent speculation that a nod towards the US's 401K pension plan would encourage people to save, with incentives such as allowing early access to part of the pension, only ten per cent of people said this would make them more confident in pension saving.

However, 44 per cent of participants still see a pension as the best way of saving for retirement, compared to property at 18 per cent, and ahead of any other firm of saving.
"It is clear that people greatly value pensions," commented NAPF director of policy, Nigel Peaple. "They consider pensions to be the best way to save for retirement - far ahead of property - and over three quarters value an employer more if they offer a workplace pension.

"People want their pension to provide them with certainty, in particular they want to be sure they won't lose money. This issue of how best to invest pensions will be examined at our Investment Conference this week."

The NAPF Investment Conference runs from Wednesday 10 to Friday 12 March 2010. Click here for details.

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