Which is urging the government to use the Budget to introduce a ‘pensions dashboard’.
Almost half (47 per cent) of people aged 50 plus, employed and with a personal pension, were not confident about their retirement savings, while more than 20 per cent have never checked the value of their pension pots, according to research for the consumer watchdog by Populus.
Populus interviewed 1,178 UK adults online between 27 January and 3 February this year.
Which also found 37 per cent find it difficult to keep track of their pension pots, with 20 per cent not knowing how to access details of their pension savings.
Almost 60 per cent of those polled by Which worried about the value of their pension, and only around 30 per cent trusted longer-term financial products like pensions.
It would be completely do-able that people can log in and see their pensions. Lorreine KennedyRichard Lloyd, executive director of Which, said while his organisation supports pensions freedoms, it wants the government to lead on the introduction of a pensions dashboard without delay, to give people easy access to all the key information about their pensions and savings in one place.
Mr Lloyd said while the FCA has previously announced it will work with the government to develop a pensions dashboard, so far there has been no public commitment from the government for the creation of a dashboard and no timeline for its testing or implementation.
Mr Lloyd said: “A pensions and savings dashboard would go a long way to providing people with a complete picture of their retirement fund and, in turn, help them make the right choices.
“We are calling on the government to use the Budget to push ahead with this idea and help people to secure better retirement income.”
| Which? demands: |
| • Introduce pensions dashboard to enable people to see all their pensions in one place; |
| • Protect savers when taking money out of their pension, especially those who do not make an active choice |
| • Safeguard savings in schemes that go bust |
| • Publish, by the end of 2016, a review of the impact of the reforms and how they have delivered for consumers |
Clive Bolton, managing director of retirement solutions at Aviva UK Life, said rather than wait for government to legislate, a progressive coalition of providers, government, regulators and consumer representatives could deliver a solution faster.
Lorreine Kennedy, director at CareMatters, a member of the Society of Later Life Advisers, said: “As somebody in their 50s, not only am I involved in this area of financial planning but I find it difficult to understand where my pensions are, particularly if you look at the state pension.
“It would be enormously helpful to have somewhere to look at all of the pensions, especially the state pension, which is vital.”