Some insurance and pension providers have been criticised by the Financial Services Consumer Panel (FSCP) for confusing consumers and charging over the top commissions on annuities when they retire.
An annuity is essentially a guaranteed, permanent income from pension savings, meaning that retirees are guaranteed never to allow their pension savings to dwindle to nothing, no matter how long they live.
The Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), the biggest pension fund in the country, which is facing a massive deficit of £7.9bn according to the BBC's figures could be in even worse trouble than originally thought.
Analysis from some private organisations has suggested that the shortfall could in fact be closer to £10.5bn, raising serious concerns about the fund itself.
Reports are suggesting that fewer people are choosing to opt out of automatic pension enrollment schemes than what was originally expected.
Whilst the government initially indicated that they expected around a third of workers to opt out of the scheme, the National Employment Savings Trust (Nest) found that 9% of employees chose to leave their automatic pension schemes.
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has ordered a crackdown on schemes that offer poor value to savers. The crackdown involves recommending a series of reforms that will give new and increased powers to the Pensions Regulator.
New changes to the state pension are set to adversely affect millions of UK workers, who could be thousands of pounds a year worse off, according to the TUC.
The current state pension is to be replaced with a single-tier pension that will provide a worth of around £144 a week in todayâ??s money
The average pensioner in the UK will see their income fall by over a third once they enter retirement and stop working. The UK average however will look appealing to those who live in London, who will on average lose 50pc of their regular income when they choose to retire
A study from Prudential has further highlighted the bleak outlook for pensioners looking to retire this year, as it was revealed one in seven will have to rely on the state pension for income.
The state pension currently stands £110.15 per week, meaning those relying solely on this are going to face a very tough retirement.
Members of the Kodak Pension Plan (KPP), of which there are thought to be 15,000, will receive reduced pension benefits after Kodak’s parent company, Eastman Kodak, was declared bankrupt.
KPP was forced to pay £419m to buy the business and in doing so save the company from closure.
One in four people say that they have lost touch with or misplaced a pension pot after changing their job.
A change in job culture means that more and more people are changing jobs more regularly, and this causes confusion over pension schemes, especially when they are not transferred to the new company they work for.
A group of cross-party MP’s have expressed their concern that the Government has not done enough to explain to the public how the forthcoming revamp of the state pension will affect them. It is thought that around 40 million people will be affected by the changes, and although members of the Work and Pensions Committee say they support the scheme, they have said that the Government must do more to tell people how they will be affected.