Young Brits have ambitious retirement plans, claims Scottish Widows

Young Brits are looking forward to a greater later life with 75% of millennials expecting their quality of life to be improved or maintained in retirement, according to new research from Scottish Widows.

Millennials anticipate retiring at the age of 63 and plan on having a jam-packed retirement. This generation has expensive plans for their later years, with holidaying overseas (59%), trips to the cinema and theatre (48%), keeping up with the latest fashions and buying new clothes (28%), and eating and drinking out regularly (26%) among their ambitions.

On the plus side, young Brits aren’t only thinking about their retirement dreams. They are also thinking about their finances and many have taken steps to start saving for the future. The average young Brit is putting away £5,888 each year towards owning their own home and the average monthly pension contribution for this age group is £214.

However, just 14% of the younger generation believe they are saving sufficiently for their retirement and 28% they have no solid plans for funding their retirement.

Jackie Leiper, retirement expert at Scottish Widows, said: “It’s exciting to see that so many young Brits are viewing their future retirements with optimism and confidence and many are making financial plans to support themselves in later life.

“It’s normal for the younger generation not to save as much as older individuals because generally they are on lower wages and saving for other items, such as home ownership, or are paying off debt.

“However, money saved at the age of 25 could provide twice as much retirement income as money saved at the age of 50, even allowing for inflation.”