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Government loses pensions faith

21/06/2008

Two-thirds of Brits have little or no faith in government over pensions, with just five per cent willing to put Gordon Brown in charge of their pension fund.

A poll by Friends Provident reveals 87 per cent of non-retired residents feel the government is failing to provide a state pension that will adequately help fund their retirement and just three per cent believe the current state pension is adequate to live on in later life.

Some 21 per cent of people said they had lost confidence in the government handling their pension and 73 per cent felt the government probably or definitely would not solve the ‘pensions crisis'.

As a result 47 per cent of the adults are now actively saving for retirement and a 22 per cent intend to start saving shortly.

Jeremy Ward, head of pensions marketing at Friends Provident, said: "Our research shows the public still lacks faith in the government when it comes to pensions. Many people want to see greater commitment to state pensions, with a larger and fairer state pension proving most popular."

Over the last year, pensions have firmly come onto the political agenda with the introduction of the pensions bill that will see Personal Accounts coming into force in 2012.

Personal Accounts will automatically enroll all workers into a workplace pension scheme – which they would specifically have to opt out of.

The government has also introduced a compensation scheme for some workers in bankrupt companies who had lost their pensions.

"The results bode well for Personal Accounts, with some people saying they would have greater confidence in the government if employees were automatically enrolled in a workplace pension scheme - and this is something the pensions industry is already well equipped to deliver," said Mr Ward.

"It is important for people dissatisfied in the Government's handling of pensions to take responsibility for their own future and make provision for their retirement while they are still working."