Future seniors face abject poverty unless Santa Claus bails them out because there’s so little in Bermuda’s pensions pot, according to economist Robert Stewart.Mr Stewart, a fierce critic of Government’s handling of pensions, says new figures reveal an average $72,000 has been saved for each worker, indicating many face a major struggle after retirement.The Pension Commission argued Mr Stewart had over-simplified his calculations, and stressed it’s doing everything it can to protect seniors although it warned many seniors will get only modest rewards on their investment.The 2007 Pension Commission report, released this month, shows 19,449 employees or self-employed people were taking part in registered pension plans four years ago, with $1.4 billion in pension assets at that time.Mr Stewart told The Royal Gazette: “This means the average is about $71,983 per employee. Not much.”He complained people close to retirement are unable to see how well covered they are because the report offered no breakdown by age.“I suspect there is little saved for retirement by those in the 50-60 age group which means horrible poverty in the future for seniors as there is a reasonable expectation that people will live for around a further 20 years,” he said.“With little savings, who will support them? Santa Claus?”The Commission responded: “You cannot simply take the total assets in pension plans and divide them by the number of members in pension plans, as some members receive greater contributions than others based upon their overall salary and wage levels, and some have been in pension plans longer.“In addition, contribution levels payable by both the employer and employee were initially low, gradually increasing from one percent in 2000 to five percent in 2004.“It should also be noted that most plan members have their pension assets in very conservative investments and so their returns will be modest.“However, being this conservative should place them in a good position when examining investment performance during the financial crises starting at the end of 2008.“Although it is recognised that those employees nearing retirement after the introduction of the National Pension Scheme (Occupational Pensions) Act 1998 would not have the ability to accumulate as much pension as those employees in the future having the benefit of 40 years or more of contributions and investment earnings, how much more difficult would the recent retirees’ financial position have been if mandatory occupational pension schemes had not been introduced by this Government?“The Commission is a regulatory body and not a financial assistance organisation responsible for ensuring that seniors have adequate resources to sustain their standards of living during retirement. However, the Commission will do everything in its power to ensure that employees in private pension plans under its supervision and regulation receive the utmost of protection as provided for under the Act.”Mr Stewart also pointed out there were nearly 25,000 employees or self-employed people at the end of 2007, meaning one out of every five wasn’t participating in a registered pensions plan.“Why are only 19,449 employees enrolled in a pension plan?” he asked.“Surely this means that over 5,000 employees are not covered and are therefore being robbed of their pension.“Only two employers had an action taken against them. What about the others? Did they get away with defrauding their employees? Surely, the Pension Commission should be on top of this.”The Commission responded that, as of December 31, 2010, the number of people on registered plans had climbed to 23,166.It added: “Furthermore, all members in plans required to be registered under the Act receive the same level of protection. The fact that a plan’s registration has not been finalised does not exempt employers or employees from the requirement to make the required contributions.“The report states that the Commission initiated civil debt recovery proceedings against two employers. This does not mean that the Commission was not successful in ensuring employers were compliant.“Indeed, the report also states that over 125 compliance meetings were held with employers and plan members. As a result of these meetings and other enforcement actions taken by the Commission, but not stated in the report, employers were made to comply with their requirements. It should also be noted that there were fewer delinquent employers in 2007 than 2006.”The 2006 Pension Commission report was tabled in 2008; Mr Stewart questioned why the 2007 report had only been released this month.“Why is the report three years late? he said. “Surely, an annual report should be available at the latest by June 30 of the following year.”The Commission responded that the 2007 report was late mainly due to staff shortages in the Auditor General’s Department.Mr Stewart said: “This is a disappointing document which tells the public very little about the pension situation. I would give them two out of ten.“This is surprising because there are a few talented and hard working people on the Commission, and [Commission CEO] Peter Sousa is no slouch when it comes to financial matters.“I suspect Government wants to keep the bad news out of the press because seniors are being given a bum deal. But it is only a suspicion as we all know Government is on top of the financial situation.”He added that the plight of seniors has likely got even more precarious since the report because the stock market has plunged since 2007.Mr Stewart has repeatedly warned Bermuda faces a pensions crisis which is only going to get worse as a result of the ageing population.Last year, his research showed the Social Security Pension Fund deficit was $2.8 billion, Civil Service Pension Fund deficit $760 million and MPs Pension Fund deficit $8 million.