Kira Rees, 29, and Alisha Frost, 24, are terrified they will not have enough in their pot when they stop working

Millions of people in the UK will not retire with enough money in their pension pot, according to a Government analysis that warns of a growing private pension crisis.

New figures from the revived Pensions Commission show that nearly 15 million people are undersaving for retirement.

They also reveal that men hold 48 per cent more in private pension wealth than women.

The i Paper speaks to Kira Rees and Alisha Frost are two such women who are concerned about their future retirement savings – while one cannot afford to save, the other contributes 12.5 per cent of her salary.

‘I am not saving into a pension – the cost of living has made it impossible’Kira Rees believes the Government should intervene earlier (Chris Meany)

Kira Rees, who works as a self-employed virtual assistant supporting neurodivergent business owners, says she has not been able to save for retirement since leaving traditional employment.

“The rising cost of living has made it virtually impossible for me to save for retirement. I am having to use all of my earnings towards necessities,” the 29-year-old adds.

Like many self-employed people, she is not enrolled in a workplace pension and would need to set up her own. But she says a lack of accessible information, especially for neurodivergent individuals like herself, has been a major barrier.

“It is hard to allocate money to the retirement fund because I am unsure exactly how much I should be putting away, if anything, and where I can go to set one up,” she explains.

Ms Rees believes the Government should intervene earlier – for example, by giving new sole traders and company directors clear retirement guidance at the point they register with HMRC.

“There isn’t enough guidance out there. When you are employed, it is not something you think about as all the hard work is done for you. But when moving to self-employment, you’re very much left to your own devices,” she says.

At the moment, she is making no pension contributions and is unsure how to track down pots from previous jobs. Instead, in future, she wants to focus on trying to build a long-term source of passive income through investing.

‘I pay 12.5% of my salary in to my pension and still worry I won’t have enough”Alisha Frost pays more than most into her pension every month but is still worried

By contrast, Alisha Frost has chosen to contribute 12.5 per cent of her salary into her pension via a salary sacrifice scheme – but she says even that does not offer full peace of mind.

“I feel confident that I’m doing the sensible thing, but I think that growing up working-class, I will never feel like I have enough saved,” she adds.

The 24-year-old, who is from Hampshire but now lives in Leeds, had originally been auto-enrolled in her first job at 7 per cent, with her employer matching.

But it wasn’t until she saw a colleague’s pension advice feature, and a Martin Lewis recommendation to contribute at least half your age, that she upped her contributions in her current role at a PR firm.

Still, she worries about how long her savings will last, especially if she is still renting by the time she retires. “Rent is ridiculously expensive, and unless there are really big positive reforms, I worry I may be stuck renting forever or have a mortgage well into my retirement which will then decimate my pension,” she says.

Ms Frost also worries about the future of the state pension in the UK, fearing it may not offer the same level of support by the time she reaches retirement age.

She added: “The unknown is always scary. Even if I don’t retire early, I will still stress. Even if I won £5m in the lottery, I would still stress that it’d run out.”

Both women believe the current system does not reflect the reality of younger workers or the self-employed – especially those juggling insecure work, high rents and limited financial education.

Ms Frost said: “I don’t think I’ve ever seen any sort of government advertising targeted towards younger people tied to pensions. We need more awareness of how pensions work, where the money goes, and why it’s beneficial to start saving early.”

Schools and employers could play a far greater role in educating young people about retirement and investing, she suggests: “My employer has some upcoming financial literacy sessions, which I’m excited about. But I’d love to see that kind of thing rolled out more widely.”