Pension: Warning as millions miss out on pension cash due to strict auto-enrolment rules | Personal Finance | Finance

“It’s the same for low earners – if they are not automatically enrolled, they might not realise what they are missing out on and might not know where to go to find out more information if they did want to start saving for a pension.”

The extension of the criterion to include workers from the age of 18 as well as low income earners has been hailed as a necessary change as not only will it provide potential savings for millions but could also add an estimated £2.77trillion to British pension savings.

Ms Gould concluded: “I think that the earlier you can contribute to a pension it will increase their pension a huge amount, especially young people who do not know a lot about the benefits of a pension. It would have been good to know that you can actually opt in earlier but no-one told me about it. I think my friends would have opted in sooner too.”

Auto enrollment is the responsibility of the employer to provide a workplace pension scheme for their employees.