Pensions are far from simple, many in our industry take a certain level of knowledge for granted when delivering pension advice.  Our experience is that many employees have little understanding of retirement planning and are left to make their own decisions.

We’ve listed below the most frequently asked questions when we sit down with employees for the first time.

• How much is my pension worth now? Usually a simple question to answer if in a Defined Contribution scheme.  Becomes more complex when including previously accrued benefits.

• How much will my pension be worth when I retire? Projections are used to forecast future income but they are dependent on a number of variable factors and are never certain

• How much do I need to save?  This question usually follows one where the employee’s expectations haven’t been met with regard to future retirement income.

• How much will the state provide at retirement? Many are surprised at how little the state provides

• I have pensions from previous jobs, what do I do with these? As employment becomes increasingly transient many employees will have accrued previous benefits with little idea of how much they are worth.

• How much does my employer pay? Many employees really don’t know how much their employer contributes to their pension on their behalf.  If they don’t know how much it’s difficult to value the benefit provided by the employer.
  

• Where is my money invested? The most common answer is usually ‘the default fund’.

• When can I retire? Often where reality bites, setting expectations is really important.

The above questions may seem quite straight forward to those involved in pension provision but to many they are questions to which the answers provide a solid foundation for understanding.

Once understanding has been gained we start to see employee engagement in retirement planning and active participation in the decision making, which will ultimately drive quality of life in retirement.

Please contact one of our team, who will only be to happy to guide you through answering your pension questions and concerns.