The average annual contribution per member has decreased by 6.8%.
With people saving less for pensions David Burrowes, chairman of the Equity Release Council, has highlighted the need for people to consider lifetime mortgages to fund their retirement.
HMRC’sPersonal Pensions and Pensions Reliefstatistics have showed the average annual contribution per member has decreased by 6.8% to reach £2,700 between 2017 and 2018.
Burrowes (pictured) said: “Auto-enrolment has helped instil a wider savings culture with more people now contributing regularly to personal pension schemes.
“However, the drop-in contributions is a sign that few people can afford to put all their hopes on a single source of finance to meet their later life needs.
“Lower savings rates and the demise of final salary pensions mean many people run the risk of outliving their savings pots, while annual and lifetime allowances also put a ceiling on high earners’ savings potential.
“We need to move on from the myth that relying solely on pensions is the answer to the nation’s retirement income challenge, and encourage people to consider housing wealth alongside investments and other assets as part of their retirement plans.
“Public guidance services have a central role to play in making joined-up thinking a reality, and there is a strong onus on industry and the regulator to forge closer links between specialist advice across different product areas in later life.”
