Industry support and scepticism
A Royal London poll of advisers shows that nearly three fifths believe that the introduction of a Pensions Dashboard will encourage people to be more engaged with their retirement planning.
Over two fifths (43%) think that the introduction of the pensions dashboard will encourage more people to seek professional advice and nearly two thirds (63%) say that it will help them to advise their clients.
Fiona Tait, pensions specialist at Royal London, said: “A personalised pensions dashboard would really help people to understand what potential pension income they would be able to secure and the sooner this is in place the better.”
However, despite the general enthusiasm for the project, Royal London is unconvinced that the dashboard will come into effect in 2019 without the UK government taking a more active role in the successful delivery of the dashboard.
Worrying figures
Figures released by Aviva, which contributed to the Pensions Finder Alpha White Paper, show the startling lack of engagement millions of savers currently have with their pension.
More than a quarter of savers (28%) admitted to never reviewing their retirement savings, while almost a fifth (19%) of those with a pension said they review it less than once every five years.
Gender also has a role to play. The number of women who are not engaged with their pension is particularly high with almost a third (32%) saying they never review their savings, compared to a quarter (25%) of men.
Aviva hopes that the dashboard will improve understanding and engagement with retirement savings so consumers are more likely to take action.
However, figures worryingly show that only just over a quarter of people (27%) think that their current contributions into their company pension scheme will provide enough for them in retirement.
Clive Bolton, managing director, retirement solutions, Aviva UK Life, said: “The lack of engagement with pensions is frightening. Ask most people what they earn now and they’ll have a pretty good idea, sometimes down to the penny, but most people have no idea what their pension is worth.
“A pension is your salary when you’re no longer working. Surely it deserves more than a glance at a statement once a year,” he said.
