Scots Double Retirement Savings

The amount people are saving every month towards their retirement has more than doubled in the last seven years, according to a survey.

Some 55% of people in Scotland are saving adequately in preparation for retiring, the report from Scottish Widows found.

It revealed that Scots are now putting away £119 every month compared to £51 in 2007 - an increase of 133%.

There was also a rise noted in the amount people have in savings and investments, increasing from £25,369 per person in 2013 to £36,243 this year - £2,565 more than the UK average of £33,678.

But experts said there are still people at risk of "slipping through the net'' who are not saving for later life.

The Scottish Widows Retirement Report is the 10th annual survey of its kind based on research of over 5,000 people examining long-term savings behaviour.

Nationwide, it found that auto-enrolment - where workers are automatically signed up to a workplace pension scheme - is playing an important role in increasing the number of people preparing adequately for retirement, with the average proportion of earnings put aside in companies with 250 staff or more across the whole of the UK increasing from 9.7% to 11.6%.

The number of people in Scotland who cite affordability as a reason why they do not plan to save any more over the next 12 months also continued to fall, from 66% in 2012 to 65% in 2013 and 61% this year.

There was also a rise in the number of people who said they felt optimistic about their long-term finances.

But one in three of those asked said they have no idea of the extent to which their pensions, savings and investments will meet their retirement income needs, while 36% did not believe they will be better prepared for their retirement than their parents were.

Ian Naismith, pensions expert at Scottish Widows, said: "A decade of tracking retirement savings trends has shown us the impact that events such as the recession, auto-enrolment and the recent Budget announcements have had on Scotland's savings behaviour.

"It is heartening to see that finally Scots are starting to sit up and take notice of the importance of planning for the future - whether this be through pro-actively upping their contributions due to a more favourable economic climate, or starting to make plans for their retirement for the first time thanks to auto-enrolment.

"Although we have undoubtedly made some significant strides forward since our research first began, there are still some groups who are not preparing adequately for a comfortable later life and are at risk of slipping through the net.

"While celebrating the success of the wider savings picture, we must not forget to identify and support these at-risk groups, such as the self-employed or part-time workers, to make sure they too have a plan for securing their financial future and do not get left behind.''