Hassan says he was paying 10.7% of his gross earnings each month into his workplace pension, while the NHS contributed a substantial amount on top.
But unlike some employers, the NHS doesn’t allow staff to reduce their contributions when times are hard.
Overall, however, he is confident he will have enough to retire on at the end of his “30-40” year career and is determined to opt back in to his pension as soon as he can.
According to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), around 22.6 million people, or 90% of those who are eligible for “automatic enrolment” pensions, are paying into one, while about 2.5 million are not.
However, Pensions Minister Torsten Bell told the BBC that “a rising number of young workers aren’t saving, and overall there is a danger tomorrow’s retirees are on track for lower private pension incomes than today’s”.
According to DWP data, external:
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In the three months to December last year, 11.5% of eligible 22 to 29-year-olds who recently started a job opted out of their pensions. That’s up from 6.6% in the same period of 2020.
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For 30 to 39-year-olds it’s gone from 7.4% to 12.7%.
