Yikes.

Almost half of Cork adults do not have a private pension, according to a new survey.

Cork-based Blueprint Financial Planning has found that over 45% of adults surveyed on Leeside have not taken out a private pension to support them after retirement.

Of those who had taken out a pension, most had done it by the age of 35, with only 8% waiting until they were older.

The same survey recorded a distinct lack of confidence amongst those who had taken out a pension that it would meet their future financial needs. Some 60% said they were not confident that their pension pot would be enough, compared to just 35% who said they were confident.

“Our Pension Snapshot for 2019 shows the true scale of the problem facing Ireland as its population continues to age.” says John O’Driscoll of Blueprint Financial Planning.

“Within 20 years, the number of pensioners in Ireland will be close to 1.5 million, and our state system will struggle to cope. Irish people have long put off talking about private pensions, and this survey is a wake-up call that we need to collectively have that conversation”.

Meanwhile, the same survey found that pensions is not a hot topic of conversation at the nation’s dinner tables. Some 59% of respondents said their other half knew “little or nothing” about their pension plan, while only 24% knew the “brush strokes”.

And an overwhelming majority – some 80% – said the rules and regulations surrounding pensions should be more consumer friendly.