Response to HM Treasury call for evidence on early access to pension savings

Responding to the call for evidence paper on early access to pension savings published by HM Treasury, Joanne Segars, Chief Executive at the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF), said:

“The Treasury is right to seek evidence on allowing early access to pension saving. It needs to approach this issue with great caution before it puts any proposal on the table.

“The countries where early access is available have had different experiences. Some of them have seen an increase in pension saving, while others have seen the opposite. We must take all these experiences and their contexts into account, and then look at how early access could unfold in the UK.

“Britain is already suffering a serious pension saving crisis. Changes must not reduce the amount individuals will have for their retirement, or bring even more complexity into an already complicated pension system.”

Notes to editors:

 

1. The NAPF is the leading voice of workplace pensions in the UK. We speak for 1,200 pension schemes with some 15 million members and assets of around £800 billion. NAPF members also include over 400 businesses providing essential services to the pensions sector.

Contacts:

Paul Platt, Head of Media, NAPF, 020 7601 1717 or 07917 506 683, [email protected]

Christian Zarro, Press Officer, NAPF, 020 7601 1718 or 07825 171 446, [email protected]