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Are you saving for your old age with lotto tickets?

You are more likely to be eaten by a shark (one in 3.7 million) or get struck by lightning (1 in 700,000) than win the lottery -(one in 13.9 million).
You are more likely to be eaten by a shark (one in 3.7 million) or get struck by lightning (1 in 700,000) than win the lottery -(one in 13.9 million). You are more likely to be eaten by a shark (one in 3.7 million) or get struck by lightning (1 in 700,000) than win the lottery -(one in 13.9 million).

INSTEAD of paying into a pension, are you hoping it will all magically fall into place at the end?

Well, here are some fun facts you might want to consider right now.

According to 2022 figures, your chances of winning the lotto jackpot are one in 13.9 million.

You are far more likely to be eaten by a shark (one in 3.7 million) or get struck by lightning (1 in 700,000) than to buy that golden ticket that will set you up for life.

Now, few of us really are banking on a lotto win to finance our comfortable lifestyle when we eventually hang up our toolbox, or briefcase, or painter’s ladders.

However, many of us are leaving it to chance. We’re banking on the timely arrival of an inheritance to save us from the misery of ‘pensioner poverty’- whether from our parents, or from kindly old Aunt Agatha.

It's a precarious strategy, based on some hopeful assumptions. What if they don’t have us in mind as their main beneficiary?

What if they’re planning to give their life savings to the local cats and dogs home in memory of little Tiddles, so tragically sent to the kitty angels when she ran under that double decker bus?

What if they themselves end up needing expensive healthcare in their later years, and that takes nearly every penny they’d hoped to leave?

Or if mum is a widow, what if she runs off with her bowls partner and decides, at the eleventh hour, to leave her money to him? Bowling greens are a hotbed of hidden passions, you know.

Even if they are intending to leave their thousands or their millions to you, how long before you get it? They could live into their 90s, and you could be 70 before you are able to stop work and start to enjoy a little leisure.

Stranger things have happened, and more of us are leaving ourselves at the mercy of other people’s generosity, rather than taking control of our own future.

Here’s the reality, as revealed in a new survey by the finance company Hargreaves Lansdown. One person in four is building an expected inheritance into their future planning (if they haven’t received it already).

Two in five of those say the inheritance will be crucial to fund their retirement.

Women are more likely to be in this situation, as they tend to have less saved due to a career break to bring up children, compounded by lower wages.

Our advice is: ensure you have a Plan B to fall back on, which will provide at least enough to cover your essential expenses, and ideally much more.

You might have to consider downsizing to a smaller house, or working past your desired retirement age.

Alternatively, if you are not yet close to retirement, you might consider setting up a personal pension that will provide a meaningful backup to whatever other savings and investments you may have.

It’s never too late to ask!

A financial plan based on our advice is a lot more reliable than a lotto ticket, but they have one thing in common: if you’re not in … you can’t win!

Michael Kennedy is an independent financial adviser and pensions specialist and can be contacted on 028 71886005. Further information on Facebook at ‘Kennedy Independent Financial Advice’ or at www.mkennedyfinancial.com