75% are not encouraged to check their pension at work

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Three quarters (75%) of respondents are not actively encouraged by their employer to check their workplace pension during working hours, according to research by Aegon.

Its survey of 386 consumer and customer panel members also found that 86% of respondents would check their workplace pension during working hours if encouraged by their employer to do so.

The research also found:

  • 21% of employee respondents are not allowed to check their workplace pension during working hours.
  • 73% of respondents would value it if their employer introduced regular time each month to allow them to check their workplace pension.
  • 71% of respondents feel that 15 minutes a month would be a reasonable amount of time to check their workplace pension during working hours, and 40% believe that checking it quarterly would be sufficient.
  • 54% of respondents believe it is their employer’s responsibility to help them plan for retirement.

Kate Smith, head of pensions at Aegon, said: “As the main route for employees to save for retirement, especially since the implementation of auto-enrolment, the workplace is the perfect place to encourage employees to engage with pensions.

“Employers have invested significant time and effort in establishing their workplace schemes and are key to helping employees develop good pension saving habits. By setting aside regular time to check their pension, staff are more likely to see the value of these important benefits provided by their employer and will start to think about saving and financial preparations for retirement.”