{"id":1052,"date":"2025-09-16T13:03:27","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T13:03:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.wealthatwork.co.uk\/bt\/?p=1052"},"modified":"2025-09-16T13:22:31","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T13:22:31","slug":"it-is-crucial-people-are-empowered-to-understand-how-to-make-the-most-of-their-pension-savings-for-later-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.wealthatwork.co.uk\/bt\/2025\/09\/16\/it-is-crucial-people-are-empowered-to-understand-how-to-make-the-most-of-their-pension-savings-for-later-life\/","title":{"rendered":"It is crucial people are empowered to understand how to make the most of their pension savings for later life."},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”1053″ img_size=”full”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]43% working-age people (equivalent to 14.6 million) are under-saving for retirement, according to a recent report by the Department for Work and Pensions. In addition, research from WEALTH at work found that in the last year, almost a quarter of UK employees (23%) have had to borrow money from family and friends because of money worries, and almost a fifth have taken on debt (18%).<\/p>\n

The impact of rising costs has also meant that almost half (45%) of workers believe they will never be able to afford to retire which is up from two fifths (39%) twelve months ago, and a third (33%) in 2023.<\/p>\n

As well as these challenges, there also seems to be a general lack of pension understanding and engagement. 21% of employees are unaware that their pension is invested and 39% are unaware of what their pension is invested in.<\/p>\n

However, interestingly, research also found that 41% of employees would increase their contributions if they knew their pension was invested in funds that aligned with their values and beliefs.<\/p>\n

Jonathan Watts-Lay, Director, WEALTH at work, comments;<\/p>\n

\u201cThese findings should prompt people to consider how they can best tackle money issues head on, build financial resilience and achieve more positive outcomes for the future.<\/p>\n

He adds; \u201cWhilst retirement may seem a lifetime away for some, it\u2019s vital that people engage with their pensions as early as possible. Many don\u2019t realise the significant difference a small increase to their pension savings can make. For example, someone in their 20s, saving just 1% more each year into a workplace pension can boost future savings by 25% if their employers were to match this. Making small increases in pension contributions may not feel affordable but making small changes such as setting a household budget, shopping around and not auto-renewing on things like car insurance, as well as utilising workplace benefits i.e. discount schemes, really can make a huge difference when trying to find that bit of extra cash.\u201d<\/p>\n

He adds; \u201cIt\u2019s also really interesting that our research indicated that many people would increase their pension contributions if they knew it was invested in funds that aligned with their values and beliefs. In recent years there has been a significant expansion of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) considerations, with people wanting to align their pension investments with their values and beliefs. By simply knowing that pensions can be used to make a difference can be a powerful way to switch people on to better engage with their long-term savings.\u201d<\/p>\n

He adds; \u201cFor people to better prepare for their financial future, they need support to understand their general finances including ways to save money, budget, manage debt, as well as how to make the most of their pension savings for later life. Many leading workplaces empower their employees with financial education and guidance via financial coaches to help them build understanding and engagement around their pensions and the options at retirement. After all, people who better understand their pensions are likely to be more engaged and save more, make better decisions at-retirement and be financially better off, which ultimately is what it\u2019s all about.\u201d[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n <\/div> ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

43% working-age people (equivalent to 14.6 million) are under-saving for retirement, according to a recent report by the Department for Work and Pensions. In addition, research from WEALTH at work found that in the last year, almost a quarter of UK employees (23%) have had to borrow money from family and friends because of money worries, and almost a fifth have taken on debt (18%). <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1053,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,3,11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.wealthatwork.co.uk\/bt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1052"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.wealthatwork.co.uk\/bt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.wealthatwork.co.uk\/bt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.wealthatwork.co.uk\/bt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.wealthatwork.co.uk\/bt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1052"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www2.wealthatwork.co.uk\/bt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1052\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1055,"href":"https:\/\/www2.wealthatwork.co.uk\/bt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1052\/revisions\/1055"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.wealthatwork.co.uk\/bt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.wealthatwork.co.uk\/bt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.wealthatwork.co.uk\/bt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.wealthatwork.co.uk\/bt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}