Employees of the UK's biggest companies are passing up an opportunity to inflate their pension pots, according to new research. Workers are "leaving a lot of money on the table", according to consultants Towers Watson, by not taking up all the pension contributions on offer from their employers. One in four FTSE 350 employers offer contributions of 10% to 11% of salary. But to receive as much, employees have to increase their own contributions.

One of the traditional obstacles to doing so is that workers do not want to tie up a large chunk of their salary in an annuity - paid out as an annual retirement income. But new rules being introduced from April in effect cancel any requirement for new retirees to buy an annuity. Retirees can take these savings as cash when they retire instead. Will Aitken, a consultant at Towers Watson, said that he expected employees - especially older workers - to save more in their pension when the new rules come into force.....Read more here