At least 30 million people in the UK do not know where their pension is or how much they have got, and the pension industry should be ashamed, a leading financial consultant has said.
Richard Smith, an independent consultant who has worked on the government’s pensions dashboard project, told leading pension industry chiefs that, seven years ago, 30 million people had no idea where their pension was or how much they had saved in it.
He said to delegates at the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association annual investment conference: “You might say, oh, that’s seven years ago, Richard. Surely, that’s much better now, isn’t it, post-COVID? Well, let’s roll forward, and it’s not.”
Smith, who has been advising the pensions industry on how to communicate to savers, said he was “personally ashamed that the industry had left the UK population like this”.
Smith was talking about company pensions, to which employees contribute, rather than the state pension.
He said: “We’re all patting ourselves on the back, saying how well we’re doing. Well we’re not doing well. This is this is the truth, and it gets worse.”
He said one leading pension provider carried out a survey last summer, which found that when people actually try and look at their pensions, they end up more anxious rather than feeling more confident or positive.
Smith said it was not an “age thing” and while younger generations, including millennials in their late 20s to early 40s, were more worried about saving to get on the house ladder, older generations were also not thinking about their pension.
Smith said he hoped the roll out of the pensions dashboard, which would allow people to see all their pensions in one place, would help Brits become more involved with their pension.
He said he had been involved in helping test the pensions dashboard.
Under the DWP’s timeline, all pension schemes must be registered by October 31, 2026. This deadline was set by the previous Conservative government, and the Labour government has confirmed it will remain in place.
“I’ve witnessed people almost in tears when they see this [their pensions listed in one place.”
