Skip to main content
The Actuary: The magazine of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries - return to the homepage Logo of The Actuary website
  • Search
  • Visit The Actuary Magazine on Facebook
  • Visit The Actuary Magazine on LinkedIn
  • Visit @TheActuaryMag on Twitter
Visit the website of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries Logo of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries

Main navigation

  • News
  • Features
    • General Features
    • Interviews
    • Students
    • Opinion
  • Topics
  • Knowledge
    • Business Skills
    • Careers
    • Events
    • Predictions by The Actuary
    • Whitepapers
  • Jobs
  • IFoA
    • CEO Comment
    • IFoA News
    • People & Social News
    • President Comment
  • Archive

Topics

  • Data Science
  • Investment
  • Risk & ERM
  • Pensions
  • Environment
  • Soft skills
  • General Insurance
  • Regulation Standards
  • Health care
  • Technology
  • Reinsurance
  • Global
  • Life insurance
Quick links:
  • Home
  • The Actuary Issues
  • October 2012
10

'New dawn' as auto-enrolment kicks in

Open-access content 1st October 2012

The biggest change in pensions for over 100 years – automatic enrolment – has been welcomed by finance experts, business leaders and the government.

2

From today, large firms, such as banks and supermarkets, will be required by law to pay into a workforce pensions for those staff who do not opt out. By the end of the year, the Department for Work & Pensions estimates that around 600,000 more people in the UK will be saving into a workplace pension.

'This is a game-changer that will get millions of people saving for their retirement. The UK is drifting towards an iceberg when it comes to paying for its old age, and we need radical reform like this,' said Joanne Segars, the chief executive of the National Association of Pension Funds.

'Things have got to change. Less than half the workforce is saving into a pension and, without auto-enrolment, millions would end up scraping by on the state pension alone. Putting everyone into a workplace pension will help reverse years of decline in retirement saving.'

The new duties will be phased in so that by 2018 all employers will be covered. Employers will have to contribute at least 3% of the qualifying earnings of their employees.

CBI director general John Cridland said that it was a 'new dawn' for pension savers and that the message from business was 'we're in'.

'Firms are committed to helping staff achieve a good income in retirement, and the hope is that auto-enrolment will encourage employees to think long-term about their finances to achieve this goal. Boosting pension savings will help us look after our increasing number of elderly people and tackle the ticking retirement time-bomb,' he said.

Pensions minister Steve Webb said the government was 'proud to be introducing this truly historic change'. He pointed out that currently only one in three adults is contributing to a pension, while people are living much longer.

'If we can get between 6 and 9 million more people saving in a pension by the time all employers are in, that's a genuine savings revolution,' Webb added.

But Ros Altmann, director general of Saga, said that saving the minimum amount into a pension was unlikely to allow people to live comfortably in their later years.
'There is a danger of people being lulled into a false sense of security,' she warned.

This article appeared in our October 2012 issue of The Actuary.
Click here to view this issue
Filed in:
10
Topics:
Pensions
Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linked in
  • Mail
  • Print

Latest Jobs

Capital Project Actuary

£500 - £850 per day
Reference
118964

Systems Actuary

London (Central)
£90,000 to £115,000 plus bonus and package
Reference
118963

Qualified Reporting Manager

London (Central)
£Upon Application
Reference
118948
See all jobs »
 
 
 
 

Sign up to our newsletter

News, jobs and updates

Sign up

Subscribe to The Actuary

Receive the print edition straight to your door

Subscribe
Spread-iPad-slantB-june.png
​
FOLLOW US
The Actuary on LinkedIn
@TheActuaryMag on Twitter
Facebook: The Actuary Magazine
CONTACT US
The Actuary
Tel: (+44) 020 7880 6200
​

IFoA

About IFoA
Become an actuary
IFoA Events
About membership

Information

Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Cookie Policy
Think Green

Get in touch

Contact us
Advertise with us
Subscribe to The Actuary Magazine
Contribute

The Actuary Jobs

Actuarial job search
Pensions jobs
General insurance jobs
Solvency II jobs

© 2020 The Actuary. The Actuary is published on behalf of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries by Redactive Publishing Limited, Level 5, 78 Chamber Street, London, E1 8BL. Tel: 020 7880 6200