White paper: Getting to Know You

Despite government policies designed to encourage saving and reduce reliance on state benefits, the UK is still failing to prepare for the future. Whilst the workplace can help deliver better later life outcomes, there remains too much focus on pensions instead of lifelong savings, and pensions alone will not resolve the UK’s overall savings problem.

JLT’s paper looks at how saving has already changed in the UK and identifies some of the challenges yet to be addressed.

Key findings

• Pensions alone will not resolve the UK’s overall savings problem. This is not because pensions are not suitable savings vehicles, but their long-term objective lacks the flexibility that people need throughout their lives.
• Financial education should be bite-sized and delivered ‘just in time’. Technology is essential as a delivery mechanism and can provide useful feedback to improve delivery through management data. But it must not be overly relied upon, as it lacks the human touch.
• There is no single solution to the shortfall in savings, but employers must take their time to get to know those that work for them and we all must contribute to a strategy that works and looks beyond the purely financial, at the emotional and behavioural actions of those we are seeking to protect – employees.