What you need to know
The process of saving and funding retirement is almost unrecognisable from how it was just a decade ago. The shift from DB to DC schemes and pushing up the state pension age has increasingly moved the onus for retirement saving from companies and government to the individual. Pension freedoms have provided unprecedented flexibility in what people can do with their money, helping offset low annuity rates and better reflect the diverse choices people make in retirement.
At the same time auto-enrolment has led to a huge increase in proportion of employees saving into workplace pensions. But there is a risk that the automatic nature of the system will mean fewer people actively engage with their pension. Relying on auto-enrolment can reduce the impetus for people to increase their contributions to an adequate level, while also leaving them unprepared for the complex decisions they have to make later in life.
The way we live and work has been transformed, with major life-stages happening at different times and in different orders. The working life and retirement of the future is set to look completely different again, making long-term retirement planning a distant and opaque concept for younger people. While new products are appearing that attempt to reflect this, huge challenges remain for the pensions industry to deliver enough flexibility to feel relevant while also preparing people for whatever their financial future may bring.
Products covered in this Report
This Report examines consumer attitudes towards retirement planning. This includes a look at how people are saving, how they plan to fund their retirement, when they plan to retire and their confidence at being able to achieve this.
This Report briefly examines the different pension options and changing regulatory environment, but for a more detailed look at specific pension types and retirement income options see the following Reports:
