Not saving for retirement is people’s biggest money worry. Almost as many people said that not meeting monthly expenses is their biggest worry. A poll of 1,157 people was conducted by the AnswerBank which found that only 10 percent of people polled are worried about paying their mortgage off.

Not having enough money to retire with is people's biggest money worry, meeting monthly expenses is also high on people's money concerns list. This is hardly surprising considering the rises in council tax, gas, electricity and petrol prices faced by consumers this year.

The poll conducted by the AnswerBank found 31 percent of people are most concerned about not saving for retirement closely followed by 30 percent of people who are worried about not being able to meet monthly expenses.

The increase in outgoings a household has means the 'spare' money people have to spend each month has decreased making it even harder to save for retirement.

Only 6 percent of the people polled said their main worry was their overdraft which will have bank managers twitching in their seats as overdrafts are readily used by the public. Just more than 10 percent of people said paying off their mortgage was their main concern.

Gas bills have risen three times in the last year, customers of British Gas will have an added average of £150 to their utility bills. Petrol has also reached record highs with people having to pay £1 a litre or more in many garages.

The 50 per cent interest increase on mortgage payments has hit buyers hard. Council tax has risen sharply by 16 percent and water bills have increased by 24 per cent making monthly expenditures bigger than ever.

To survive these increasing costs a person must either cut back dramatically on their spending or they may end up knee-high in debt. It now becomes apparent as to why bankruptcy is at an all time high in the UK; credit is so easily obtained but not so easily repaid. These figures do not bode well for creditors as the public frets over meeting monthly living costs.

Not being able to save for retirement is very worrying for the public, first time buyers are taking out 100 percent mortgages due the huge increase in the price of houses which they could be repaying into their sixties when they should be close to retiring. It means that people are going to have much less money, if any, to save.

Visit www.theanswerbank.co.uk

What are your biggest money worries?

Total number of votes 1157

Credit card debt 21.09%
Paying my mortgage 10.63%
Meeting monthly expenses 30.16%
My overdraft 6.31%
Not saving for retirement 31.81%