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
    • Moody's - Climate Risk Insurers series
    • Webinars
    • Podcasts
  • Jobs
  • IFoA
    • CEO Comment
    • IFoA News
    • People & Social News
    • President Comment
  • Archive
Quick links:
  • Home
  • The Actuary Issues
  • October 2013
10

Younger workers look to employers for retirement guidance

Open-access content Monday 7th October 2013 — updated 5.13pm, Wednesday 29th April 2020

Up to 95% of young and middle-aged employees do not feel confident that they will reach their retirement saving goal and are looking to their employers for help, according to a survey by State Street Global Advisers.

2

The report, published today, focused on attitudes toward retirement, pension planning habits and current savings level, polling 1,000 UK adults between the ages of 22 and 65.

It found that more than half of 22- to 36-year-olds would feel incentivised to save more if their employer's contribution rate increased.

And almost half (45%) of those surveyed who say they are not confident in their pension provision blame poor schemes, insufficient time and a lack of existing savings.

Nigel Aston, managing director and head of UK DC at State Street said: 'One year into auto-enrolment, it is clear that a substantial number of people are looking for help to reach retirement readiness. Currently, [young people] see little value in investing in a workplace pension, and [are] looking elsewhere to secure a retirement income.'

'We need to learn from the investment products that are attracting [younger people's] attention,' he said.

'Many of them communicate the benefits and ease of investing, and we need to help scheme sponsors pass on the same messages about defined contributions.'

Aston observed that the research showed that employers occupy a position of 'real trust' with their staff and can use that relationship to drive better workplace savings outcomes.

The survey also found that nearly 60% of the younger respondents would rather invest in property and increase personal investments in order to generate a retirement income. However, 50% of all the adults surveyed said they would prefer to invest in ISAs in order to generate retirement income. The firm said young people have the lowest level of understanding of how their savings are invested. Only a third of young people claim they have an understanding of their default fund compared to 54% across all ages.

The survey revealed that 70% of young people contribute less than 6% to their DC fund, while over 80% of the same demographic have no plans to change the amount they contribute within in the next year.  As such, only 1 in 5 households with young and middle-aged adults have less than £5,000 currently saved towards their retirement.

Aston said: 'These figures should galvanise the pensions industry into building the next generation of default funds. Unless we build better solutions and work in lock-step with employers to increase engagement in workplace pensions, auto-enrolment will have failed.'

 

This article appeared in our October 2013 issue of The Actuary .
Click here to view this issue

You may also be interested in...

2

High Court ruling clears way for TPR action on pension liberation fraud

A High Court judge has today ruled that the legal status of nine so-called liberation vehicles are ‘occupational pension schemes’ paving the way for The Pensions Regulator to take action.
Monday 21st October 2013
Open-access content
2

Contractors forced to maintain public sector pension rights

Private firms who take over public services will be required to continue offering public sector pensions to transferring staff, the Treasury has announced.
Tuesday 8th October 2013
Open-access content

Auto-enrolment numbers pass 1.6 million mark

More than 1.6 million workers are now saving for retirement through an auto-enrolment pension scheme, the Department for Work and Pensions announced today
Thursday 10th October 2013
Open-access content

Royal Mail and Ensign first to receive administration accreditation

The Pensions Administration Standards Association has named the Royal Mail’s pensions and severance team and Ensign Pensions Administration Limited as its first two accredited bodies
Friday 4th October 2013
Open-access content

Firefighters announce further strikes in pensions dispute

Firefighters in England and Wales are to strike again next week over what they claim are government ‘attacks’ on their pensions, the Fire Brigades Union announced today.
Friday 11th October 2013
Open-access content
2

Auto-enrolment regulations revised after first year

Pension minister Steve Webb has today announced a series of technical changes to the government’s auto-enrolment programme that are intended to make it easier for smaller companies to add their workers into a pension scheme.
Friday 11th October 2013
Open-access content

Latest from Pensions

ers

By halves

Reducing the pensions gap between men and women is a work in progress – and there’s still a long way to go, with women retiring on 50% less than men, says Alexandra Miles
Thursday 2nd March 2023
Open-access content
rdth

Make My Money Matter's Tony Burdon on the practical power of sustainable pensions

Years working in international development showed Tony Burdon, head of Make My Money Matter, that sustainable pensions can harness trillions of pounds to build a better world – at a scale governments and charities can’t. He talks to Travis Elsum
Wednesday 1st March 2023
Open-access content
KV

Liability-driven investments: new landscape

What now for liability-driven investments, after last year’s crash in the market? Pensions experts Rakesh Girdharlal and Moiz Khan say it should lead to a more balanced approach
Wednesday 1st February 2023
Open-access content

Latest from Top story

2

Banking on building in Brexit Britain

Francisco Sebastian explains the possible impact of Brexit on infrastructure investment in the UK
Friday 25th November 2016
Open-access content
2

Diffusing the demographic time bomb

Dr Chris Ball looks at how an ageing population can be supported to work longer to encourage the benefits of extending employment lives
Wednesday 26th October 2016
Open-access content
2

Retirement income market 'not working for all consumers'

Competition in the retirement income market is not working as well as it could for many consumers, the Financial Conduct Authority has confirmed.
Thursday 11th December 2014
Open-access content

Latest from October 2013

Pensions Regulator urges vigilance on ABC structures

The Pensions Regulator has urged trustees to examine asset-backed contribution (ABC) structures carefully and explore ‘less risky alternatives’ to support defined benefit pension schemes.
Tuesday 19th November 2013
Open-access content

NAPF issues revised corporate governance guidelines

The National Association of Pension Funds has set out new remuneration principles and more robust expectations for corporate accountability in its latest corporate governance policy and voting guidelines published today
Tuesday 19th November 2013
Open-access content

Mixed movements in October annuity market

The past month saw mixed movements in the annuities market as two of the top five providers offering standard, inflation-linked, and smokers’ annuity cover cut their rates, the Annuity Bureau said.
Thursday 14th November 2013
Open-access content

Latest from 10

Pensions Regulator urges vigilance on ABC structures

The Pensions Regulator has urged trustees to examine asset-backed contribution (ABC) structures carefully and explore ‘less risky alternatives’ to support defined benefit pension schemes.
Tuesday 19th November 2013
Open-access content

NAPF issues revised corporate governance guidelines

The National Association of Pension Funds has set out new remuneration principles and more robust expectations for corporate accountability in its latest corporate governance policy and voting guidelines published today
Tuesday 19th November 2013
Open-access content

Mixed movements in October annuity market

The past month saw mixed movements in the annuities market as two of the top five providers offering standard, inflation-linked, and smokers’ annuity cover cut their rates, the Annuity Bureau said.
Thursday 14th November 2013
Open-access content
Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linked in
  • Mail
  • Print

Latest Jobs

Exposure Management Analyst

London, England
£40000 - £50000 per annum
Reference
148639

Pricing - Casualty Actuary

London (Central)
£128K + bonus + benefits
Reference
148638

Reporting Contractor

Negotiable
Reference
148636
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

Topics

  • Data Science
  • Investment
  • Risk & ERM
  • Pensions
  • Environment
  • Soft skills
  • General Insurance
  • Regulation Standards
  • Health care
  • Technology
  • Reinsurance
  • Global
  • Life insurance
​
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

© 2023 The Actuary. The Actuary is published on behalf of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries by Redactive Publishing Limited. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part is not allowed without written permission.

Redactive Media Group Ltd, 71-75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ