Is a UK state pension enough to survive on in retirement?

A state pension is the money you can claim from the government once you reach state pension age, usually paid every four weeks.

You can claim it if you have worked and paid national insurance during your working life, or received national insurance credits while unemployed.

Unfortunately, the state pension is not enough to survive on after retirement alone. Currently, the new state pension is £179.60 per week, or £9,339.20 a year.

This figure is likely to increase with the triple-lock on pensions, meaning state pensions rise every year in line with inflation, increasing average wages, or 2.5% -- whichever is highest.

Due to the government’s concern that not enough people were saving for later life, employers are now required by law to automatically enrol employees into an occupational pension scheme, where both the employer and employee contributes to the pension.

Even then, the average UK pension pot only stands at £50,000. To put this into perspective, the average monthly pay in London is £28,776 a year.

With a £50,000 pension pot and living at the same standard, you would not have enough to live on for two years.

One sensible way to supplement your retirement income is to open a lifetime ISA- a savings account that can be used to save up for pensions with an interest boost from your provider.

But you should do this earlier — starting one late in life is unlikely to give you much time to save.