From the blog: With grades, graduation and graduate jobs being of immediate priority, there is little concern of retirement plans and pensions among students. Following those are concerns about home-owning, holidays and being happy right now.
As a student, I am rather unfazed by the prospect of retirement.
The knowledge of living longer and thus working longer pushes myself and other young people to presume we have plenty of time to be riddled with retirement-related worry – now is not that time.
As a student, I am rather unfazed by the prospect of retirement. The knowledge of living longer and thus working longer pushes myself and other young people to presume we have plenty of time to be riddled with retirement-related worry – now is not that time.
Little understanding, little engagement
Workplace pensions present themselves as complicated schemes with confusing figures, vague guarantees and no explicit benefits for those of us only in part-time work because of study.
Yet we understand state pensions aren’t sufficient (having heard the complaints of those we know who are reliant on them) and thus can only fantasise of a comfortable retirement funded by owning property or by our future employers providing a good scheme.
However, the Council of Mortgage Lenders predicts that only 25 per cent of individuals aged 30 will be homeowners in 2020 – the age myself and many other students deem it suitable to begin retirement planning. With this, home-owning and saving feel out of reach.
In a study conducted by the Ipsos Mori research institute, a working woman 22-25 years old stated: “I don’t really see the point [in saving] before the age of 30.”
In the same study, many participants expressed distrust in the government, employers and private pension companies to actually provide their full sum of money upon retirement, preferring cash Isas, which can be seen as more convenient, easier to understand and easier to access. Their flexibility and accessibility is more appealing to younger people and can also be started at any age with a bank you trust.
Good graduate jobs
As the fear of not becoming a homeowner sinks in, hope for a 'good' graduate job with a good pension scheme becomes paramount. And yet we are told that unemployment rates for graduates are soaring, with a distinct lack of quality jobs across markets.
Paying £9,000 a year for three-plus years should be enough to convince anyone to utilise their education-granted skill set. Yet it is likely that many won’t – resulting in acceptance of lower pay and the inability to save for retirement.
Cultivation of ideas to save for retirement should be a priority for young people. Relying on time and on property we do not yet own is risky, and thus young people need to be pushed further into knowledge of pensions and the necessity of saving for retirement.
Josie O'Brien is a student at Sheffield University
