This week (18 – 22 November) is Talk Money Talk Pensions Week – a campaign from the Money & Pensions Service (MAPS). This relatively new body was established in January 2019 by the government and brought together The Money Advice Service, the Pensions Advisory Service and Pension Wise into one single entity.
It is responsible for delivering a non-commercial pension dashboard that will run alongside the various industry dashboards and designed to be impartial. However, its primary raison d’etre is to help consumers make the right financial decisions throughout their lives with pensions a key focus. The aim of this week-long campaign is to encourage people to start talking about saving for a pension and retirement planning.
Their statistics on how ill-prepared people are for retirement come as no surprise. 22 million working age adults do not feel they understand enough about pensions to make decisions about saving for retirement. 5 million people in retirement are not satisfied with their overall financial circumstances. A core goal of the campaign includes encouraging people to engage with their pension.
20-20 Trustees enjoys a national reputation for managing schemes to ensure maximum value for members. It’s important that members receive value for money and are well represented. Regular and well-presented communication plays a vital role in ensuring this happens. That’s why advisory campaigns like this are a useful tool for both Trustees and managers.
Involvement could be something as simple as putting a link to the Talk Money Talk Pensions website on your intranet and on your company social media, to hosting an event that brings stakeholders together for a Q&A that promotes financial well-being. You can of course also signpost to external services provided by the Money and Pensions Service.
Pension schemes are becoming more complex which makes it harder for members to navigate through them. With years of supporting pension schemes, especially those with complex situations, the 20-20 Trustees team has been involved in numerous projects where the right communication tools have been the difference between success and failure. It’s not always simple or easy, but when it comes to getting a good outcome for members, it’s always right. So start talking.