Pensions Awareness Day - On The Road

It’s year four. And it’s been quite a journey. From originally registering Pensions Awareness Day, to seeking support from the pensions industry (thank you!) to painting up a bus and taking it around the country…. It’s got bigger and better each year.

This year starts in Edinburgh, and the bus then moves on to Leeds, Birmingham, Cardiff and London. Over the week, we are expecting hundreds of people to come onto the bus, asking their questions about pensions. We will be giving away plenty of ‘freebies’ and with help from Pensions Wise, handing out loads of advice.

If you’re in the area, why not come over? This is the website with dates and times in each city:

PENSIONS AWARENESS DAY

As an industry, we’ve a long way to go before people are saving anywhere near enough for retirement. But we’re off and running. Join us!

Majoring on the Minors

My good friend Henry Tapper makes an interesting point in one of his recent blogs (where does he get the energy to write so much?!) He points out that we keep going on about investment freedom of choice when most people just need a good default choice.

That’s backed up by what we find on the Pensions Awareness Day bus. So many people come on board with pension questions. And so many more with a simple statement: ‘Tell me what to do.’

We are catering too often for the financial expert, and not enough for the man or woman on the street. It may feel uncomfortable to ‘tell’ people what to do but that’s what they want.

If we could just put as much energy into developing effective default options as we do into developing the next big investment idea that is only of interest to the minority, we really would be getting somewhere.

Being Bold on the Benefits of Pensions

Helen Morrisey’s clarion call in Professional Pensions to be ‘bold on the benefits of pensions’ is welcome.

So often, as pension professionals, we get caught up in the minutiae of the pension issues and forget the big message. But the big message is a simple one and needs saying as frequently as possible. And as simply as possible.

On the bus tour linked to Pensions Awareness Day, nearly 600 people came onto the bus during the week. And what did they ask? Details as to how S2P is changing? No. How to maximise their AVCs? No. What investments will give the best return? No.

Their questions were simple (see previous blog):

–      ‘What’s a state pension?’

–      ‘Do I get any pension from the Government?’

–      ‘Does my employer offer a pension?’

–      ‘Do I have to offer a pension?’ (from an employer)

–      ‘It’s all too complicated’

–      ‘There’s too much choice’

–      ‘Tell me what to do’

To quote Helen, ‘we need something simpler, cleverer and bolder’. Come on pensions communications companies- let’s be hearing from you!

Pension Awareness Day - Keeping it Simple

In September, the Pension Awareness Day bus travelled from Edinburgh to Manchester, to Leeds, to Birmingham, to London.

 

Over 600 people came on board during the week. Pension Wise were there, with different teams at each location. And the good people of Scottish Widows and People's Pension were on hand to help. Local radio broadcast us. Local newspapers interviewed us. An the pensions press supported us. (Thank you Pensions Insight and Professional Pensions for your encouragement.)

And what did those 600 people ask or say? Here's a sample:

–‘What’s a state pension?’

–‘Do I get any pension from the Government?’

–‘Does my employer offer a pension?’

–‘Do I have to offer a pension?’ (from an employer)

–‘It’s all too complicated’

–‘There’s too much choice’

–‘Tell me what to do’

 

You don't get much more basic than that. For all our pensions knowledge, sophisticated communications and strange looking monsters courtesy of the Government, we still need to keep to the simple messages.

Mirror.... Signal.... Manoeuvre...

Mirror... Signal.... Manoeuvre....  And off we go.

This years' Pension Awareness Day is gathering pace. And it's making even more of an impact as a bus is driven from Edinburgh to London via Leeds, Manchester and Birmingham.

The message is simple:  to promote the importance of saving for the future and to alert the nation that it is not saving enough for retirement.

If you're a pensions professional, a pensions company, or just plain interested in pensions, why not join us? It's not too late to sponsor the campaign. You get a lot of publicity - and more to the point, it's a strong altruistic statement that you care that the next generation has a pension!

Get on board! Here's the link: Pension Awareness Day.

Instant Society

Yesterday was Pension Awareness Day. The BBC ran a pensions programme called Inside Out, looking at the pension cheats and the need to save. It even had a cameo performance from Steve Webb, chatting to pensioners on a bus.

Joan is 93. In the programme she comments on the cultural shift towards spending now.

'Nowadays, young people don't know how to save - because they've never had to save. It's a throwaway society. They've never had to make do and mend like we had to.'

There's something in that. In our instant, 40,000 googles-a-second society, everything is instant. Saving isn't.

Pension Awareness Day (2)

Today is Pension Awareness Day. What started as a good idea has grown into a great event. Thank you to all those who have sponsored the day. Well done to Jonathan at Pension Geeks in getting it off the ground.

This is just year 1. What can we achieve in the year to come? How can we help people to think about pensions sooner? We’ve got the infrastructure, the products, the tax regime to help. But we still need to communicate the message.

That’s the Pension Awareness Day challenge.

Pension Awareness Day

As likeminds rightly point out in their blog, one of the key messages on Pension Awareness Day is to encourage employers and pension providers to be more innovative in the way they communicate saving for retirement. 

Are we too quick to assume that people will read what we send them? Are we too reliant on words? Do we assume people respond to communications in the same was we do? 

Having been 83 days (and counting.....) without broadband at home (courtesy of BT Openreach incompetence), it's made me read more in print, text more and attempt to download stuff on my phone that I would normally read on a computer screen. It's been enlightening. The smaller screen on the phone means I skip more, just look at the headlines, respond to pictures more as they take up more of the screen.

I'm not suggesting that my one-man experience should be a key driver in our communications, but it does suggest that the particular communications aim of Pensions Awareness Day is the right one. 

Pensions in Unexpected Places

When you talk about pensions, certain pictures come to mind. Stock pictures used by many a journalist. An older couple walking along a sea shore. A piggy bank, preferably pink with a smiley face. Coins in a jar.

They're not bad images. At least it breaks up the text.

But how about pensions in unexpected places? One of the aims of pension awareness day on 15th September  is to try and get the pension wrist band into unexpected places! Maybe you can help? Order your wrist band. Take a photo of you with the wrist band in an unexpected place. Send your 'pensions selfie' to Pension Geeks. The best pictures will be on the site.

And the message? All of us in the pensions industry need to try harder to get pensions out there. And even the unexpected places (and people) need a pension.