Consumers should be ready for retirement by saving for the future and an understanding of pension schemes is "really important", reports a national charity.

A large number of consumers in the 1970 and 1980s could not afford to contribute to a company pension scheme or did not have one available to them, according to Age Concern.

Spokesperson for the charity Samuel Heath said: "There are many people who haven't been putting money into a private pensions scheme, possible because they couldn't afford to or they weren't in the kind of job where that was available," he said.

Mr Heath advised consumers to seek independent financial advice about the best way to save for their senior years as well as to gain awareness of other fiscal contributions such as national insurance.

He also expressed concern that many jobs do not provide adequate private pensions for employees.

Age Concern provides over one million elderly people with direct help annually.