Chris Eastwood

The study by workplace pension provider Penfold found that just 36.9% of Sheffield respondents and 37.3% of Glasgow respondents said they believe their pension savings will be enough for retirement. Edinburgh scored the highest of the Scottish cities surveyed at 42.1%.

While, residents in London (61.6%) and Liverpool (57.0%) reported the highest levels of confidence among those surveyed. Respondents in Belfast also recorded high confidence levels (61.8%), though this figure is based on a smaller sample and should be treated as indicative.

It also found that just over half of respondents (52.9%) said they feel confident about whether their pension savings will be enough for retirement, while 42.5% do not and 4.4% said they don’t know.

The research also found that fewer than one in five respondents (17%) describe themselves as very confident about their retirement, while more than a quarter (26%) say thinking about their pension leaves them feeling anxious or confused.

Chris Eastwood, chief executive and co-founder of Penfold, said: “The confidence gap between cities like Sheffield and Glasgow and the rest of the UK is striking. Auto-enrolment has got millions of people saving, but being enrolled does not necessarily mean people understand whether they’re on track for the retirement they want.

“The confidence gap between cities like London and Sheffield isn’t just a pension problem. The challenge for the industry is to make pensions easier to understand wherever people live. Workers in every city deserve a clear picture of what they’re building towards, and access to guidance when they need it, that’s what can help them feel more informed about their financial future.”