We wanted to take this opportunity to address the issue of engagement with pensions. Monumental changes to pensions rules means you’ve most likely been doing a lot to help your employees approaching retirement with their planning, maybe even providing them with some education. But what about your other employees? Doesn’t it make sense to support all of your employees with their retirement planning? In fact, it makes complete sense to help your employees as soon as you can – if they start saving younger, they can build up their savings gradually and not get a nasty shock when they come to retire and find that they don’t have as much as they expected.
The hard part about this is actually getting younger employees engaged with their pensions, because they think their retirement is so far off that they don’t need to worry about it. You can communicate to your employees in various different ways, and we like face to face, but no matter how you do it you have to make it relevant for them. One size doesn’t fit all when it comes to pension planning: messages that appeal to your senior execs are unlikely to appeal to your graduates and new starters.
Making pensions relevant means giving your employees real examples of people in their situation and helping them to understand why saving is so important, or why it’s important to consider their options following pension freedom. To make all of your benefits relevant, they need to be applicable to your employees’ lives outside of work. Not everyone is going to need every benefit, but you can’t just give them a list of what’s on offer and not explain how great it is or how it could work for them. You don’t buy a new household appliance without getting instructions with it.
If you want to find out more, speak to your usual Jelf consultant or visit our website.