London, 12 January 2026: Despite good intentions at the start of the new year, most Brits are still putting off pension action, new research from PensionBee reveals.
A nationally representative survey of 1,000 UK adults shows that while more than half (53%) say they’ve thought about their pension ‘a fair amount’ or ‘a great deal’ in 2025, only 17% expect to actually review or increase their pension contributions in the next 12 months.
Even among those who know they should act, many are stuck in limbo. Whilst in total 52% said they expected to review or make changes to their pension in 2026, of those only 20% have a plan to do so and 32% have not yet taken any steps, highlighting a clear gap between awareness and action.
Short-term pressures crowd out long-term planning
Day-to-day money worries continue to dominate financial decision-making, with a third (33%) admitting that reviewing their pension simply 'is not a priority at the moment'.
The top three financial priorities for the year ahead are building short-term savings (45%), saving for specific purchases (45%), and managing everyday finances (44%). Debt is also front of mind. Over a third (35%) say paying down debt is a priority, just under a third (31%) include it in their New Year’s resolutions, and nearly a quarter (23%) would use spare money to reduce what they owe.
By contrast, while more than half (55%) resolve to save more money in general, only 14% say they’ll focus on improving their pension, showing how retirement planning is often pushed aside in favour of more immediate needs.
Lisa Picardo, Chief Business Officer UK at PensionBee, commented: “The UK is facing a retirement savings crisis, with 4-in-10, or nearly 15 million people, undersaving for retirement. For many, the immediate pressure of high living costs makes it difficult to prioritise the future over today’s needs, but others are left behind by structural gaps in the system. Without urgent action tomorrow’s retirees are on track to be poorer than today’s.”
“The current auto-enrolment framework excludes millions of ‘invisible workers’ such as the self-employed, low earners, and those juggling multiple part-time jobs. We desperately need a simpler, more inclusive pension system. That means expanding auto-enrolment to include invisible workers, getting them into the habit of saving and helping all those who can benefit from employer contributions where possible.”
“And with millions of fragmented, or lost pension pots in the UK, the current slow and complex transfer process discourages savers from consolidating and makes retirement planning more difficult than it should be. We need to break down these barriers: a 10-day Pension Switch Guarantee would in one single move help the entire industry to reform, removing the administrative hurdles that exist, and helping to rebuild consumer trust.”
“Whilst the cost of living crisis continues to weigh on people’s appetite and ability to save for their future, there’s absolutely nothing stopping the government from taking steps to make pension saving easier to manage, to help ensure everyone has a fighting chance of a comfortable retirement, regardless of how they work. Time is of the essence.”
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