Pension timebomb is ticking louder

The pension timebomb across the UK is ticking even louder, says John Fox, managing director of the pension provider Liberty SIPP.

“As Britons live longer, the nation’s pension bill is rising steadily. The recent figures give a grim forecast – by the time those currently embarking on their working lives retire, state pensions and winter fuel payments will swallow up 8.4% of GDP.”

“Such a high pensions cost will impose an almost impossible burden on the workforce – almost £1 in every £10 they generate will go to pay for Britain’s army of retirees.”

“But it’s not just the future projections that are cause for concern – the picture of the present is hardly rosy. Women continue to be the big pension losers. Four out of five retired men receive the full state pension – among retired women the proportion is barely half that.

“The state pension system is already badly stretched and the pressure will only increase in future. Unless the government accepts the scale of the problem and takes steps to make pension saving more accessible and part of everyday life, its actions are as irresponsible as setting off for a stroll in a minefield.

“Successive governments have conspired to build the precipice we now stand on, and so they either need to get real or get out of it altogether. We need to put in place a body that will accept responsibility for the crisis and put together the coherent pension strategy that this country so badly needs.”