Millennial generation despairs of being able to afford to retire
M any younger people, struggling with high rents, student loans and low wages, are scratching their heads about why the government has decided to throw billions of pounds at people already wealthier than many of them ever will be.
A little over a week ago, chancellor Jeremy Hunt used his first budget to announce a multibillion-pound tax giveaway to Britain’s wealthiest pension savers – a decision Labour is vowing to reverse.
Ministers hope the overhaul of tax-free pension allowances will encourage experienced NHS consultants to work longer.
But the policy – forecast to cost more than £4bn between now and 2028 – has prompted a debate on whether a huge tax break for the top 1% of earners is a good use of taxpayers’ money, as the vast majority of UK workers will be unable to benefit.
The millennial generation (generally those born in the 1980s and mid-1990s) is shaping up to be in a significantly worse financial position by retirement age than many of their parents and grandparents.
And with the oldest now in their early 40s, many are arguably running out of time to save for retirement – if they can squirrel any money away at all – and are less likely to own a home, or receive a generous company pension.
The Observer asked UK millennials to get in touch via an online callout to tell us how much they were paying into a private pension .
Mike, 32, a solicitor from Yorkshire, was one of hundreds who responded. “I pay nothing, and have no savings,” he says. “It’s likely that I’ll die before I can retire.
“I earn an OK salary of £32,000, but because I live alone, my living costs are enormous – rent is over 45% of my salary. I have student loans to repay from university and law school.
“My work insists I have a car. I don’t have a
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