Two in five working adults aged between 46 and 55 do not know how much they have saved for retirement, Aviva has found.

New research from the provider revealed that 40 per of the age group “are approaching retirement blindfolded” as they edge towards the age they can access pension freedoms.

Despite this, 49 per cent of employees aged between 22 and 65 believe they need to save more into their pensions, while 28 per cent feel like they are saving enough.

Aviva head of savings, Alistair McQueen, said: “Not knowing how much you have saved in your pension pots is like approaching retirement with a blindfold on. For those in their 40s and 50s, understanding retirement savings is especially critical.

“They can be accessed at age 55, at which point some big decisions might need to be made. Without knowing how much you have saved it’s difficult to put a plan in place that could improve your retirement.”

McQueen added that it is “clearly a positive” that almost half of the population is aware of their savings, but that it needed to be acted upon.

The study also revealed that the emotion most commonly associated with savings is worry, with 18 per cent agreeing.

“Auto-enrolment has been a fantastic tool in getting almost 10 million more people saving. But even when minimum contributions reach 8 per cent in 2019, that will still be too low for most people. That’s why we have called for minimum contributions to be raised to 12.5 per cent by 2028,” he added.

“Retirement is very much in the control of the individual. The money saved now will be in their hands in the future, so now is the time to start making active choices which will help to achieve those retirement dreams.”

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