Three quarters of those surveyed (75%) believe financial planning will be important to them in 2014, with retirement income (32%) and pension savings (29%) seen as top financial planning concerns, ahead of other financial planning concerns such as credit card bills (23%).
Nearly a third (32%) are more confident about their finances this year, than at the same point last year. Those who are more confident about their finances are more likely to focus on their pension savings (37%) than those who are less confident about their finances (28%). Reassuringly, those who report feeling more confident about their finances attribute their situation to an improvement in employment prospects and their own efforts to spend less and save more.
David Still, managing director, Retirement Income, at Friends Life commented: “It is interesting to see how optimism and confidence affects our retirement planning. It’s clear to see that many of us are feeling more hopeful about the year ahead and are resolved to fix our finances while the going is good.
“Not all of us are feeling the benefits of economic recovery, a quarter of us (27%) report feeling less confident about our personal finances than last year and attribute this to changes in the cost of living, employment changes or worries about the global economy.”
