Retirement savers need to explore alternatives to annuities following recent stock market volatility, believes MetLife Europe Limited.

Following the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) research into the benefits of long-term saving, MetLife is urging the government and pensions industry to do more to tackle current levels of uncertainty among retirement savers.

The report from the DWP, Saving for Retirement: Implications of Pensions' Reforms on Financial Incentives to Save for Retirement, shows that, given reasonable assumptions about the future, most people can expect to be better off in retirement by saving, with the majority getting back more than double the amount they save.

However, MetLife’s own research reveals that more than two out of five people planning to retire within the next five years have no idea of the amount of income they will receive from their company money purchase scheme.

A further third of pension savers are also unable to estimate how much an annuity will pay out.

According to MetLife, even those who are able to estimate how much income they will receive can be wildly over-optimistic, with nearly one in five adults retiring in the next five years expecting annuities to provide an annual income of more than £9,000 from a £100,000 pension fund.

Around 18 per cent of men aged 60 to 64 and women aged 55 to 59 believe their annual income from an annuity will be £9,000 or more with three per cent expecting more than £15,000. Currently, the best income on a £100,000 annuity for a 65-year-old man is around £7,309 and £6,264 for a 60-year-old woman.

Dominic Grinstead, strategic development and marketing director at MetLife, says, ‘It cannot be said often enough that most people can expect their savings to make them better off in retirement. However, the industry and government needs to do more to ensure that message gets through.

‘Current stock market volatility and record low levels of interest rates are increasing uncertainty for savers. For people in the UK, we would urge them to explore alternatives to annuities which enable them to remain invested in equities while also having the security of guarantees for their capital or income.’