Just under half (49%) of respondents have yet to quantify the funding they need for their pre-retirement programmes, according to the Employee Benefits/Close Brothers Pensions research 2014.
More than a third (35%) of the 87 respondents that offer staff support at retirement expect their funding to remain about the same in the next few years. This is acceptable if their organisation has sufficient funding in place to communicate the vast choices that staff face at retirement as part of a comprehensive, ongoing education campaign, rather than a one-hour workshop held during lunch, for example.
A number of employers seem well aware of their pre-retirement programme responsibilities, with 14% of respondents planning to increase their funding.
Just 2% of respondents plan to reduce their funding, but this may be in line with the proportion of their staff due to retire in the next few years.
These findings are supported by other industry research.
For example, nearly half (47%) of employees believe their employer should play a role in helping them to prepare for retirement, according to research by Barclays Corporate and Employer Solutions (C&ES).
But employers must be mindful of the fact that not all employees want pre-retirement support. A third (33%) of respondents aged 55 or over who have not yet retired would not value financial advice when they retire, according to research by retirement income services provider MGM Advantage published in June.
Its research, which surveyed more than 2,000 UK adults aged 55 or over, found that 38% of respondents have never sought advice about retirement finance options. Of these, just under a third (31%) said they are confident enough to plan their own retirement, while 12% do not want to talk to anyone else because their financial affairs are private.
