Almost one in five employees unaware of level of pension contributions

Nearly one in five employees (19 per cent) do not know how much they and their employer are contributing to their pensions, according to research from Hargreaves Lansdown.

This figure rose to one-third (33 per cent) for people over 55, compared to just 10 per cent for those aged between 18 and 34.

The research suggested that these workers risked "sleepwalking" into retirement, according to Hargreaves Lansdown's head of retirement analysis, Helen Morrissey.

"Planning for retirement is one of the most important things you can do, and yet one in five people have no idea how much they are contributing to their pension," she continued.

"It actually gets worse the older we get, with one-third of people aged over 55 having no clue about what they and their employer are putting in.

"If you don't know what's going in, then you won't know what you are going to get out of your pension, and so we risk people sleepwalking into retirement with nowhere near enough to meet their needs."

Employees were most likely to say between £201 and £300 was contributed to their pension every month (15 per cent), while 3 per cent said it was more than £2,000 per month.

Higher-rate taxpayers were more likely to know how much was being contributed to their pensions each month, with only 7 per cent not knowing their pension contribution levels compared to 18 per cent of basic rate taxpayers.

"Having an idea of what you want your retirement to look like can help you get a sense of how much you need to get there," Morrisey added.

"It's also well worth checking to see if your employer offers a salary sacrifice arrangement on their pension.

“The employer also saves on their National Insurance contribution. This is something employers may increasingly look at as the rate they pay was hiked in the recent Budget and will hit 15 per cent in April."

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