Possibility, probability but no certainty. How HR teams can boost employee pensions

Helping your staff to see more clearly their retirement options

From Aspire to Retire, our workplace pension resource, it’s a short step to Pension Potential.

You’ll see that both are named with a possibility in mind and that’s because what you do, as an employer, can aim to help boost the pension for which your people are saving.

My last two posts have, I hope, reinforced the connection people feel with their workplace when it comes to retirement.

Pension Potential is for when they’re nearing taking their retirement benefits or thinking seriously about it, having been primed by Aspire to Retire and its wealth of information, tips, guidance and support.

It’s free to use for employers to help their staff see more clearly their retirement options such as buying an annuity, drawing down their savings while leaving them invested, taking them as cash or even a combined approach.

Part of the thinking is that we recognise that this is far from a comfortable time for most, but feel strongly that sensible guidance should be available to everyone, no matter how much – or how little - their pot contains.

Employers benefit by being able to offer their workforce a solution which helps to make clear sense of the choices they face and, in doing so, their tacit endorsement of this tool means employees are more confident in trying it out. That’s a win-win.

In particular, Pension Potential maps your future through an overview of your pension savings, the opportunity to talk to someone and seeing if an annuity is a course to consider.

For example, by bringing together all potential annuity deals in one place, anyone exploring is able to see a clear, informed picture of how much each is worth.

At the risk of sounding obvious, this tells them whether or not what they may be being offered by one provider is good or poor value before formally applying.

In an era of comparison websites and instant internet indexing of prices, trades and values, we believe applying this technology better to prepare people at this stage is helpful.

And it gives HR and employee benefits teams the means to support this 50-plus cohort at what can be a stressful period. Pension Potential does the work for them by mapping out what retirement options really can look like and gives structure and form to the possibilities ahead.