As many as 18 million adults in the UK are unsure as to whether or not they are saving enough into their pensions, the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) has warned.

Its poll found that 56 per cent of respondents with a pension said that they were not confident that they were saving enough to let them live the lifestyle they want in retirement.

Using ONS employment data, which states that there are 32.8 million people in employment in the UK aged 16 and over, the PLSA has calculated that this proportion of respondents represents about 18 million adults.

The research — released as part of Pensions Awareness Week — also shows that a quarter of respondents don’t know if they are saving enough, while only a fifth believe that they are saving enough.

The survey also shows that men were more likely to agree that they were saving enough (27 per cent) compared to women (14 per cent).

Those earning mid to high incomes between £30,000 and £49,000, were more likely to feel confident in their savings (30 per cent) compared to those in the low-to-mid earning bracket of £10,000 to £29,000 (19 per cent).

Homeowners were also more likely than renters to say that they were confident they were saving enough (at 25 per cent compared to 14 per cent).

In addition, over a third wrongly think the auto-enrolment minimum pension contribution level is the government’s recommended amount to be comfortable in retirement.

“It’s clear that savers are still unsure about exactly what their pensions are worth and what this will translate to in terms of real income in their retirement years,” said PLSA chief executive, Julian Mund.

“This Pensions Awareness Week, we want savers up and down the UK to think about their contributions so they know exactly what they can do to ensure they have the retirements they want.”

The discovery comes after the PLSA commissioned Populus to undertake a poll of 2,096 individuals aged 18 to state pension age, which was weighted to be representative of the UK population.

The PLSA will launch a new Retirement Living Standards manifesto at its annual conference in Manchester on 17 October, aimed at providing people with a better understanding of what kind of lifestyle they can expect for their retirement when looking at their saving levels.

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