Just one in three Irish parents are regularly saving for their retirement

JUST one in three Irish parents are saving for their retirement regularly, according to a new survey.

It found that while most have pensions in place (88pc), they are not saving on a regular basis, with just 32pc responding that they did so.

The study of 780 parents across the country was carried out by consultancy firm ParentsandBrands, ahead of Pensions Awareness Week, which runs from today until September 24.

It was conceived to raise awareness about retirement planning and to help people take charge of their long-term savings.

Many parents fear they won’t have enough retirement funds, according to the survey.

Less than half of parents said they review their pension arrangements on an annual basis, with 13pc saying they have never reviewed them.

Many parents also admit to not understanding how pensions work and are unsure what happens to their contributions if they take a career break or paternal leave.

This area of pensions was described by parents as “time consuming and difficult to organise,” “confusing,” and “very difficult to understand”.

“When we asked parents about their pension, many said they found the whole area really confusing,” said Jill Holtz, co-founder of ParentsandBrands.

“There’s a lot of ‘starting your pension’ or ‘nearing retirement’ type of information available, but not so much for this middle segment of people with kids, who may be taking a career break, or for those who don’t know how much to save for a comfortable retirement.

“They regularly make decisions about their day-to-day family finances, but long-term options aren’t being discussed that much.”

Ms Holtz suggested the research should be helpful for pension providers in how they engage with their clients.

“There’s an opportunity for the pensions industry to really help this segment by understanding more about what parents need and want, and to ultimately help them make good decisions for pensions.”

According to the research parents wanted like clear, concise information on how to start a pension, the impact of taking a career break/parental leave on their pension, the difference between state pension vs private pensions and how much to pay into their pension to have a comfortable retirement.