Is the youth of today preparing for retirement? We asked City College students

City College Norwich A-level student Cameron Tovée-Galey. Picture: D Faulkner (Image: Archant)

Student loans, first homes and getting on the career ladder were all higher priorities for A-Level students at City College Norwich as they discussed the report.

Lee Ribera, 18, said: 'A pension is the last thing I am thinking about at the moment.

'I want to think about spending money on a new car, then putting some away for a mortgage as soon as possible.

'I don't think I'll be able to think about it until my 30s or 40s.'

Cameron Tovée-Galey, 19, added: 'I don't think a lot of people our age know about this sort of thing.

'They just look at Twitter for their news so they won't hear about it.

'We need to find out about other opportunities to invest in assets which you can get income from if state pension ages are increasing.'

Chloe Burrows said: 'I don't think pensions are explained well enough to young people. When it is something that is so far away you are not going to go and research it.

'If it was explained more clearly I think people might understand it better and be able to do something.'

The uncertainty in the current political climate was also a concern for the students who said they could not be sure what would be on offer when they reached retirement.

Katy Smithson, 18, said: 'With the things happening in the world at the moment you don't know what it might be like in the future.

'I think it makes you think about today more than the long term.'

Another issue facing them is rising house prices and they found it hard to believe they could own a home any time soon.

Miss Burrows said: 'I would really like to buy a house but with inflation it is going to be harder to buy a home.'

Mr Tovée-Galey said: 'I want to go to university so I will be paying for that before I have got a mortgage.

'I think there are going to be a few rich entrepreneurs who are able to own property and the rest will have to rent.'