Just under a third (31 per cent) of independent financial advisers believe that consumers failing to save for retirement and lack of understanding about the risks of under-saving are the biggest threats to comfortable retirements.

Research from VitalityInvest cited concerns that clients’ understanding of risk has not improved in the last ten years, despite changes to auto-enrolment, drawdown and annuities.

When asked about the awareness of people under 40 regarding the risks of not saving into a pension, 27 per cent said that the understanding was the same as 10 years ago, while 16 per cent thought consumers were a lot less aware.

Further research from VitalityInvest revealed that 74 per cent of UK adults had never made any contribution to their pension beyond auto-enrolment or did not have a pension plan.

Responding consumers wanted clearer government advice about saving for retirement, with 27 per cent agreeing with this, while 28 per cent said that a better understanding of the government’s long-term plans for the retirement age would encourage them to start saving more and earlier.

VitalityInvest deputy CEO, Justin Taurog, commented: “The research shows there are some serious concerns from advisers about consumer attitudes toward retirement.

“Their worries are warranted and it’s shocking to see three quarters of UK adults haven’t contributed to their pension beyond auto-enrolment.

“There is clearly a role for us as a business, and the industry, along with government to help educate investors about the danger of under-saving for retirement.”

The study also revealed differences between men and women’s attitudes towards pension saving, with only 19 per cent of UK women ever having made increased contributions to their pension, compared to 26 per cent of men.

Furthermore, double the amount of men (10 per cent) than women (5 per cent) actively implemented positive changes to their retirement savings after calculating their later life finances.

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