Brits clueless over pensions.

BRITS are underestimating how much they need to save for retirement by an average of nearly pounds 240,000, research showed yesterday.

One in four people admitted they had no idea how much they needed to save into a pension pot.

And those who did claim to know thought they would need only around pounds 260,000, according to stockbrokers Selftrade.

But the group said a pension pot this size would buy people an income of only pounds 13,000 a year.

For a pension equivalent to current average earnings of pounds 25,000, people would need to have saved pounds 500,000.

Young people had the least idea about how big a pension pot they would need, with people in their 20s thinking they'd need just pounds 241,000.

But even those who were close to retirement were not much more clued up.

People in their 50s thought they would need only pounds 275,000 with those in their 40s thinking pounds 264,000 would be enough.

Neil Jamieson, of Selftrade, said: "Our findings reveal a worrying lack of understanding about how much people should be saving."