Britons warned: Don’t neglect your pension...

WORKERS struggling with rising bills risk becoming part of an “army of poorer pensioners” if they stop paying for their retirement.

- Tony Whitfield

Former pensions minister Baroness Ros Altmann said it is “deeply worrying” that people are either reducing or halting their contributions in order to cope with the cost-of-living crisis.

Her warnings followed findings by Scottish Widows that one in 10 pension savers have stopped or cut payments.

Meanwhile, investment management company Charles Stanley says a quarter of savers had stopped or are planning to stop this year or next.

Baroness Altmann said she was particularly concerned about the number of women opting out of saving, as they most need a private pension to supplement the basic state one.

She said she is sympathetic that those struggling financially may have no choice but to cut contributions, but said it was important they restart when they can.

Baroness Altmann said: “It’s deeply worrying. Nobody can survive at a decent level on the state pension, we know that it is very difficult.

“So anyone who doesn’t have much in the way of pension savings is really going to be much poorer in later life.

“But if it’s only temporary, it’s one thing. The trouble is once you stop paying in, what will make you start again?”

She said: “There are concerns, clearly, that the cost-of-living crisis entices people out of pensions for understandable reasons but they never go back in.

“Then we have armies of poorer pensioners later on.”

Baroness Altmann, inset, added: “There is a particular issue where I believe a lot of women are opting out, and they are much more at risk because women tend to have lower pensions overall than men anyway.