Give your pension some attention!

Get behind our new campaign, urges Deputy Director of Policy Joe Dabrowski.

More people are saving into a workplace pension than ever before, but; despite previous efforts by the industry, government and money guidance bodies; engagement with pensions is still low.

Over half the public struggle to find their pension information and only 20% are confident they are saving enough for retirement.

Against that backdrop, now is the time to try something new and bold to reach the unengaged, to break through the public’s lack of interest and make pensions a talking point.

Given the cost-of-living pressures being experienced by many, it is arguably more important now than ever that people making difficult decisions do so from a position of knowledge.

The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) and the Association of British Insurers (ABI) are proud to have launched a nationwide saver engagement campaign, uniting the industry behind a single message, urging savers to ‘Pay Your Pension Some Attention.’

Running from Pensions Awareness Week in September through to Talk Money Week in November, the success of the Pension Attention campaign hinges on a collaborative effort from across the industry to raise the volume and make some noise about the power of pensions.

With support from some of the best-known brands in the pensions industry, we want to reach people we don’t normally reach and empower them to understand what pension saving they have, how easy it is to keep track of, and how powerful pension saving is in giving people choice and freedom when they retire.

That’s why we went to an unexpected source and challenged them to produce a new track and accompanying video.

Grime artist and Bafta award-winning TV personality Big Zuu’s lyrics encourage listeners to ‘ask questions’, ‘make connections’ and think about ‘future intentions.’ We hope it offers a refreshing and catchy take on pensions to show they are relevant to everyone.

The attention-grabbing song directs people to Pensionattention.co.uk for basic information on how pensions work, including how everything you save gets a boost from your employer and the tax man too. There’s also help with tasks such as tracking down forgotten pensions from previous jobs.

We know the track will not be to everyone’s musical tastes, but we expect it to have the power to generate conversations in the home and among friends and family. Zuu has recently started his own pensions engagement journey, tracking down pots from early jobs as a teenager in retail and hospitality, so he understands what people need to do to pick up the basics.

As people face difficult financial choices this autumn, it is more important than ever that they have confidence in their workplace pension and understand how to keep track of it. Pensions are not only for times of prosperity, and there will always be people dealing with difficult financial circumstances.

This is not about asking people to contribute more but about helping savers reconnect with their pensions and to feel good about having a retirement savings.

Pension providers have planned lots of activity through the campaign season. Some have built dedicated landing pages to support campaign messages and encourage their members to log-in and make sure their details are up to date. Others have published top tips articles to tell savers the easiest ways to pay your pension some attention. We’ve even seen the campaign logo on annual benefit statements, member communications and newspaper advertisements.

We encourage pension providers of all shapes and sizes to get behind the campaign in whatever way they can, from sharing campaign materials on social media, to taking a selfie in front of a one of the digital billboards we’ll be running at train stations, there are any number of creative ways you can help.

Making pensions part of a wider conversation about lifestyle, and getting coverage beyond just the personal finance pages, requires us to make a big noise with something different. The industry has a great opportunity to change people’s perceptions that pensions are difficult or boring and make a difference to people’s financial lives through better member engagement.

Visit pensionattention.co.uk.