PLSA publishes guidance for pension schemes to help savers with higher cost of living

These include a new cost of living hub on the PLSA website and a guide for schemes, ‘Supporting Savers Through the Cost of Living Crisis: A Resource for Schemes.’

The cost of living increased sharply in the UK in 2021 and 2022, with the annual rate of inflation reaching a 41-year high in October 2022 and remaining high well into 2023.

Rising costs mean many people may be seeking additional help to support their financial wellbeing. The financial decisions that savers make now – both in relation to their pension and otherwise – could have a significant impact on their long-term financial resilience and retirement income.

Given the important role that pensions play in securing individuals’ financial future, schemes are well positioned to provide additional support to savers at this time. The PLSA’s resources are intended to provide guidance to schemes that wish to share additional information with savers struggling due to the increased cost of living.

‘Supporting Savers Through the Cost of Living Crisis: A Resource for Schemes’ seeks to consolidate relevant information from a range of sources that may be helpful to savers for schemes to share.

Broadly, the topics covered within the resource include:

1. How schemes can support savers’ overall wellbeing, signposting them to mental health resources, basic budgeting support, government benefits and information on protecting themselves from scams; and
2. How schemes can support savers’ fiscal health in retirement, including information on saving for retirement, accessing pension money early (for over 55s), and what schemes might say to savers looking to opt out or opt down.

We recommend schemes publish the information within this resource online, notify members of these (or other similar) materials and actively partner with employers to help disseminate relevant information to savers.

Joe Dabrowski, Deputy Director of Policy, PLSA, said: “The rising cost of living has put everyone’s finances under the microscope and may be leading savers to seek additional help.

“The PLSA’s cost of living resources are designed to give schemes the information savers need to make informed choices about their pension contributions, whether and how to access their savings and to signpost to additional sources of support, including mental health organisations; free and impartial pension information from PensionWise and MoneyHelper, as well as information about accessing Pension Credit, cost of living payments or help with energy costs.

“Giving people support and confidence in their pension saving is an important part of helping everyone achieve a better income in retirement.”

Mark Smith, Head of Media Relations
020 7601 1726 | [email protected]

Cali Sullivan, PR Manager
020 7601 1761 | [email protected]