Martin Lewis on state pension: What Brexit will mean for YOUR savings

Martin, 45, shared his thoughts during an appearance on This Morning after a caller asked what would happen to his pension savings when Britain leaves the EU.

Brexit has caused the UK market to become more unpredictable, with the pound experiencing a slump since the referendum result was announced.

Two years ago the UK currency was at around €1.539 to the pound, and now currently it is at €1.093.

But what does this mean for pensions in the UK?

Martin said there is no need to panic. He explained: “Pensions move up and down all the time, it’s just like house prices, the only day that really matters is the day you sell, when you cash it in.

“So yeah, your pension has dropped because the FTSE’s dropped, the FTSE may go up again.”

The only people who need to worry, he said, are those who are cashing in on their pensions on a day when the markets are doing badly.

He said: “It’s just a paper drop, and markets move everyday. They’re swinging bigger at the moment, they’ll stabilise, they may go down, they may go up, but that’s what you do when you put money in a pension.

“It’s an investment. It goes up, it goes down and you hope for the long term it will work well for you.”

Martin has also spoken about how to boost savings for retirement.

He said: “If you’re an employee and you work in a firm with over 50 people, your employer automatically opts you in now to saving for a pension.

“You are allowed to opt out, and if you do, effectively people are giving away a massive pay rise and its a real warning to people to not just do this thinking ‘oh I don’t really wanna be bothered with that.

“When you’re opted in, not only do you save to your pension, but by law, your employer has to put in too.

“The problem comes when you see less in your take home, and many people who are struggling say ‘I really need the money, I’m not going do to it, I’m going to take that money out because I need a bigger pay packet.

“But we have to be honest, there is a real question on whether for those under 50 the state pension is really going to be that strong when you retire.

“I’s easy to think short term now but if your employer is matching your money…”