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Is pension education more relevant than childcare?

By August 4, 2016February 12th, 2019No Comments

Pension education v childcare? If you are around 50 and wondering when you are going to retire then you might agree that pension education is more relevant than childcare in your workplace.

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!

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 to improve productivity (as offered to Google employees).

Why an ageing work force triggers pension education need
A Chartered Institute of Personnel Development report ‘Avoiding the demographic crunch: Labour supply and the ageing workforce’ states that, only 1 in 5 workers were over 50 in 1992 – now it’s 1 in 4.

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’.

Could retirement worries affect productivity?
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.

Pension education should follow auto enrolment
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.

Avoid recruitment & retention problems

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.

To find out how we could help you or your employer provide a pension scheme that gives members the right outcomes through advice and education, ring Richard Cullen on 0161 975 6700 or email askus@cullenwealth.co.uk for advice.