The press release demonstrating how ignorant the public are about their retirement income is an instant crowd pleaser, guaranteed to get a place on the website of our trade press. Here’s an example.

Same story, slightly different headlines.

Here’s the text from the FT Adviser

Half of people aged 55 plus in the UK have no idea when they’ll be able to retire, according to research from Momentum UK. Despite being within a decade of state retirement age, in a study of 2,000 UK adults, just 49 per cent of those aged 55 plus knew at what age they could afford to stop working

Here’s the text from Professional Pensions

Half of people aged over 55 have no idea when they can afford to retire despite being within a decade of state retirement age, according to research. In a consumer survey of 2,000 adults in September 2015 commissioned by financial technology firm Momentum UK, respondents were asked to rate 20 statements about their finances in terms of importance and satisfaction.

I am 55. If I use the Government’s State Pension Age retirement calculator, I discover I cannot retire till I am 67. Whether I’m a man or a woman , if I am 56 on the date of the press release, my state pension age is not until November 11 2027. To be absolutely clear that is 10 years and 10 months away.

Even if you were born on 11th August 1961, you would not be within ten years of retirement. Infact, under the taper, this is the birthdate that is precisely ten years from SRA.

Statistically, well over half the British people who are over 55 but under 57 on this date are not within ten years of state retirement age. That’s a lot of people!

Get it right Momentum – you’re supposed to be expert!

So the press release about the ignorance of the public about when they can retire…… is providing false information about when they can retire!

This would be funny if we weren’t trying to get the right message across. There are WASPI women traumatised at their perceived loss of state pension . The case of the WASPI women is that the Government miscommunicated state pension ages to a cohort of baby boomers. Now Momentum have gone and put their fat feet in the same cow=pat!

The ignorance of changes to state pension ages is widespread. My interest only mortgage ends at my 65th birthday because in 2014 HSBC would not accept that my state pension age was 67.

I don’t want to criticise the journalists, they have to assume that the compliance departments of insurers such as Momentum have checked the statements being put out.

I do blame Momentum, who are being lazy in their work. They deserve to be ridiculed for belittling the general public. If they can’t even get state pension ages right themselves, they cannot laugh at us for not knowing when we can afford to retire!

I have written to the two journalists, suggesting they change the text, by the time you read this, I hope they have done so. If Momentum read this, they should hang their heads in shame!

Any journalists who have the press release to hand should forward it to the DWP/FCA and tPR for comment!