One in four UK workers are in support of presentations by their employer (26%) or a financial expert (23%) to help them understand their pensions.
Overall, 90% of workers believe that pensions need to be made easier to understand, according to the Spring Pensions Survey from B&CE Benefit Schemes. Just 10% think that being sent something to read from an employer about pensions is useful. The survey, conducted by TNS, found that the workplace is a popular environment for educating workers about saving for retirement.
Half of the respondents (51%) said that an occupational pension scheme with employer contributions is an important, or vital factor when looking for a new job. One in five (21%) said they would not accept a job offer if the employer did not provide a pension to which they contribute, and 30% said their new job would have to be a very good one for an occupational pension not to be part of the package. Just 13% said that an employer provided pension was of no importance at all.
John Jory, deputy chief executive of B&CE Benefit Schemes, said: "It is encouraging to see that UK workers are supportive of pensions education, particularly at a time when too few people are making any provision for their retirement."
He continued: "Too often we are told to save for retirement but it seems that just telling people that they need to save doesn’t work. People need to understand pensions first and it appears that the best way of doing this is through presentations. Workers benefit most from being able to interact and ask questions and the workplace is the favoured forum for this to take place."
The survey also revealed that 43% of those questioned, think free advice from a financial expert would be helpful in making sense of pensions and one in three believe that pensions education should be provided in schools.