Pension savers have no idea how their money is invested according to new research.

According to latest research from Standard Life, almost a third of British consumers with a pension admits that they don’t know where it is invested.

The research also showed that a large number of people are pushing the thought of long term financial provision to the back of their mind with almost a quarter of adults with a pension admitting that they do not care about their pension.

Of those who have a pension, one in ten said they had not reviewed their fund since they set it up and could not be 100 per cent sure how it is invested.

Mark Polson, Head of Customer Management at Standard Life said: “It won’t surprise many financial advisers that consumers care more for cars and jewellery than financial assets but it is surprising that even those consumers with large pension pots neglect to look after their investments.

“It’s shocking that a pension has to be eight times the value of jewellery before most consumers care about it. We need to educate people that taking even the smallest steps, such as looking into a pension and seeking financial advice, has the potential to make a dramatic long term difference.”

Another pension survey, from prudential, has revealed that women are more likely than men to be facing poverty in retirement.

Their findings show that more than a third of women planning to retire in 2010 will receive an income which is below the poverty line of- £14,000 a year or less.

Prudential say that the gap in income for men and women during retirement is due to women taking career breaks to have children, halting their pension payments.

Vince Smith-Hughes, Prudential’s head of business development for pensions said: ” Evidently there is a vast difference between men’s and women’s anticipated retirement income and we believe government and the retirement savings industry can do more to encourage men and women to save more into pensions.”

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