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!

The Barrier of Words

As passionate pensions people we want to communicate well. We want people to understand their pension and appreciate its value. But we are often stopped from communicating well by our own blind spots. In fact our words can be a barrier to getting the message across.

The Technical Barrier

Too often we assume we are being clear with our pension communications when it is nothing but gobbledygook to the recipient. We are so wrapped up in the industry we work in, we are not aware of the pension jargon we are using. Glossaries help, but better to write plainly and assume the reader knows nothing about the subject. If you talk about ‘hedging’ your investments, people are likely to be thinking of a green bush in the garden. If you speak of commutation, people will think you are talking about travelling to work…. You get the picture!

The Cultural Barrier

This is a more subtle communication issue. Not all companies are the same. Many may be UK companies and have a certain style of communicating. Others may be US companies- generally the business language is sharper and more to the point.

I work part time for a community based charity. Here the language is very different to anything I have experienced in the commercial world. You can’t just dive in to the issue you want to email on, for example. There has to be a bit of a ‘how are you’ and a conversation would typically end with ‘blessings’ rather than ‘cheers’ or ‘yours sincerely.’

So when you’re speaking about pensions – typically a ‘foreign language’ to any organisation, it’s important to first asses the culture of the company you are working with.

The Functional Barrier

As an occasional consultant for Pension Geeks, it’s interesting pitching business. No matter what the potential client may say, you are being assessed against the incumbent communications company. And, sometimes without the client being aware of it, they are expecting you to be the same, and possibly to charge the same. (As we’re smaller with fewer overheads, the fees are usually a good conversation to have).

That same functional barrier can work in presenting pensions to a non-specialist audience. They have an expectation that they won’t understand it, sadly based on earlier pension events or (often inaccurate) articles they have read in the press.

Words can be a barrier. And there’s the challenge!

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.

Seeing Red - The New AHC

I’ve got a soft spot for pensions communication company AHC. Not least because I used to work for them.

So their new web site and relaunch are good news to me. Gone is the over complicated old web site, full of words and hard to follow.

In its place, a new design. Not far off what we have done with Pension Geeks.

I like the cleanness of it. It’s easier to navigate and the messages are clearer.

Having said that, the front page is just plain annoying! I like the video of everyone. Faces I recognise and many I miss. It shows the magnificence of Heath Hall and tells the story well of a young and dynamic workforce. Playing croquet, answering phones, looking busy. A bit too signposted in places, but a good message.

The annoying bit though is the 70 or so words that fill the middle of the screen, so you can’t see the video properly. I found myself wanting to hit the delete button, but there wasn’t one!

The words themselves look like they were manufactured by committee. Pretty much at odds with the clearness of the message elsewhere on the site. Just plain strange.

The other change is the name. Gone is Anthony Hodges Consulting, replaced by plain AHC. And a new logo too. In red. And in a speech bubble.

Red is a bit of an aggressive colour and to put it in a speech bubble seems a little too pushy to me.

But overall, a great new site.

May AHC only ever see red on their logo and never on their balance sheet!

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.

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.