If approximately 50 per cent of UK adults who regularly enter the National Lottery weekly used the amount of a ticket towards their pension, their pension pot could be worth £10,000 more by retirement, PensionBee has revealed.

The analysis found that someone aged 18 who enters the National Lottery Lotto once a week has roughly less than a 0.05 per cent chance of winning a prize pot of £10,000 at least once by the time they reach the average retirement age of 66.

If the £2 cost of the weekly ticket was contributed to their pension each week from age 18 until they retire at 66, they could have an extra £9,958 in their pot, with those entering twice a week possibly having an additional £19,930 by age 66.

PensionBee offered advice to boost pension savings by contributing 1 per cent more a month, maximising employer contributions, checking the type of investment plan behind your pension, and combining pensions where it makes sense.

Commenting on the findings, PensionBee Director of Public Affairs, Becky O’Connor, said: “It’s hard to overcome the allure of receiving millions of pounds overnight, which is why so many of us play the lottery week in week out, even if we rarely win anything.

“But there’s more chance of ‘winning’ big with a pension than there is entering the lottery - the catch is that you have to wait until you reach retirement to reap the reward.”

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