Is pension education OR childcare more relevant to you or employees?
If you are over 55 and wondering when you are going to retire then you may certainly agree that it is. If you are running a business you may have noticed there are more people aged over 50 working now than over 20 years ago, so tempting you to swap ‘cycle to work’ with a hip replacement or hearing aid scheme!
Why an ageing work force triggers pension education need
According to a report ‘Avoiding the demographic crunch: Labour supply and the ageing workforce’ by the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development and the International Longevity Centre, only one in five workers were over 50 in 1992 but now it’s one in four.
This is all due to the end of the compulsory retirement age, better healthcare, an ageing population and because many people can’t afford to retire any time soon.
And the report also reveals a trend to people wanting to retire but unsure when they can because they lack confidence planning their finances, understanding what their pension is worth and working out how much they need to live on, leading to a need for so-called ‘financial and pension education’.
Retirement worries reduced with pension education
The decline in final salary pension arrangements and the increase in age at which the state pension is paid, means retiring around 60, is a worry for many.
It’s also a worry for employers because while older workers are less likely to take time off through ill-health than their younger counterparts, their productivity could be adversely affected if they are stressed by money worries. No one wants to be part of a workforce where a number are begrudgingly carrying on, years beyond they want to, because they haven’t planned their exit strategy.
Do you really want to bring your dog to work?
To counteract this, providing guidance on pensions and savings, appears more logical than some of the quirkier benefits like bringing your dog to work (as offered to Google employees).
Pension education is a natural progression
In fact, pension education is a natural progression following the roll out of auto enrolment workplace pensions. Many enlightened employers appreciated the value in helping staff access good pension advice as part of their auto enrolment scheme.
While employers might worry about losing valuable skills when older employees retire, they also need to see the value of succession planning to motivate younger talent. Having a bottleneck of older workers who show no signs of retiring may not only cause recruitment but also retention problems as well.
Find out more here how we could help you or your employer provide a pension scheme that gives members the right outcomes through advice and education.
