Older workers in dark about pension pot size

Millions of older workers are unaware of how much they have saved for retirement, prompting fears that they will miss out on an opportunity to boost their retirement pots. Some 41% of workers aged over 55 say they do not know the value of their pots compared to 28% average of all UK workers, according to a new survey. Workplace savings and pensions fintech Cushon reckons 51% of employees aged over 55 have more than one pension pot and yet 86% have never transferred one pension pot into another. Meanwhile 28% of workers have already lost track of at least one pension by the age of 35. The business has called on the industry and the Government to do more to boost engagement and better support savers as they get closer to retirement to ensure older people are fully prepared. It said one of the key improvements should be a simplification of the transfer process, including automatically transferring people’s accrued pensions when employers change workplace pension providers. Although the Government has proposed a solution for very small pots, there needs to be an approach for all pension pots regardless of size, Cushon said. Similarly, embracing digitisation and moving away from complex jargon and paper-based documents could reduce the barriers that prevent savers from consolidating pension pots. Cushon said Government should encourage providers to improve digitisation while pushing on with the much-delayed Pensions Dashboard. Steve Watson, director of policy and research at Cushon, said: “It needs both government and providers to take the lead here. For government, pushing through the delayed introduction of the Pensions Dashboard is just a first step - supporting pot consolidation by allowing automatic transfers when employers change workplace pension providers would be a major leap forward. “Also, the Government’s proposals on small pots, which we support, is great but the issue of lost pots is not just limited to small pots, it’s an issue across the board. “Providers need to be embracing technology and simplifying how savers engage with their pensions, by removing jargon and offering apps allowing people to easily manage their savings should be an industry standard.” • Censuswide, on behalf of Cushon, surveyed 2,009 employees enrolled into a workplace pension (18+) between 14 June and 16 June.

Older workers in dark about pension pot size

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