It would appear that the number of people requesting information about their state pension is on the increase, with 500,000 people asking for this information in the tax year of 1996-1997. This figure has grown steadily between then and 2003-2004 when it reached 917,063 people.
Unfortunately due to the way the data is captured, figures beyond 2003-2004 are not available. Many so-called experts believe that once people realise how little state pension they will receive, it will prompt them to save in either a company or personal pension scheme.
Our view
The State pension is the saviour in retirement for most people and normally represents the largest pension by far. People do need to save but they do not. In an interesting twist, the Pensions Agency has confirmed to us that they are changing their systems currently and many pension forecasts will not be available for 18 months as new rules for state pensions are planned and systems are being overhauled.