Less than a third (31%) of UK pension scheme members believe that they will get a satisfactory income from their employer's pension scheme according to The Pensions Confidence Survey 2007 by Alexander Forbes Financial Services.

Almost half of UK pension scheme members (47%) that were questioned in the survey said that if they were left to make their own investment decisions they would put their pension savings into residential property.

Three quarters (75%) of UK pension savers admitted that they would prefer financial experts to make investment decisions on their behalf

Tim Scholfield, technical consultant, Alexander Forbes Financial Services, said: “Employees still need a lot of help to understand exactly what they need to do to secure a retirement income to meet their needs and expectations.”

This is also bourne out by research from TNS Finance, called Study into Retirement and Financial Planning, which also highlights a lack of financial planning by individuals.

The study shows that 86% of adults between the aged between 55 and 64 years believe that the state will not provide for them in retirement, yet almost half (46%) of this age bracket have no financial arrangements for retirement.