'Time machine needed to tackle looming pensions bombshell'

The invention of a time machine may be essential for babies born today to secure a comfortable retirement. That was the startling conclusion of pension provider Liberty Sipp which has issued a stark warning about the "looming pensions bombshell".A baby born this year would need to go back through time to start saving in 1984 if they aim to retire at 65 with a pension income of £13,500, the firm's researchers found.John Fox, managing director of Liberty Sipp, said: "Either we do something about this or we invent a time capsule so that a baby born in 2014 can start saving into a pension in the mid-eighties, in order to get a half decent retirement in 65 years' time."{desktop}{/desktop}{mobile}{/mobile}The study showed a person born today saving at the average rate – making only the contributions required to generate the average UK pension pot size of £30,000 by age 65 – would need to save for 95 years to reach the £250,000 mark.To achieve an annual pension income of £13,500 without taking the tax-free lump sum would require a pot of £188,000. The average person born in 2014 making average contributions would need to have started saving in 1991 in order to build up a pot this size.For a 21-year old to build up a £250,000 pension pot they would need to start contributing £1,734 per year — 8.3 times more than the current average rate of saving.Mr Fox said: "I'm sure the pensions industry is starting to sound like a broken record, but people are saving way too little and are starting way too late."Such concerns are unlikely to trouble Prince George when he celebrates his first birthday next week."But his contemporaries - who are only able to save for their retirement at the average rate - are already 31 years late in starting a pension if they want to retire with a retirement income worth half the average Briton's salary."Princes seldom have to worry about their pension plans, but for everyone else this is a real and pressing issue."

'Time machine needed to tackle looming pensions bombshell'

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