There is a lack of awareness about the pension dashboard, since 92 per cent of individuals have not heard about the government’s initiative to help people take control of their pensions, research from YouGov shows.
In the survey, commissioned by savings and investments adviser evestor, 61 per cent of respondents admitted they did not know the dashboard would provide them with access to all their pensions in one place.
More than a quarter of people (27 per cent) incorrectly thought the dashboard will provide them with financial advice on their pension plans.
Some 19 per cent of the individuals wrongly thought they will be able to use it to make deposits into their pensions.
The plan behind the pension dashboard is to create the technology to enable savers to see all of their retirement pots in one place at the same time, giving them a greater awareness of their assets and how to plan for their retirement.
The dashboard is due to launch in 2019.
HM Treasury is in discussions with the Department for Work & Pensions to make participation in the pensions dashboard compulsory for all schemes and providers.
According to Anthony Morrow, co-founder of evestor, the research also revealed that 36 per cent of consumers do not know the current value of their pensions.
He said: “This suggests the concept of the pension dashboard is fundamentally sound, but the development and rollout requires much more consumer involvement.”
Mr Morrow said that the industry and the government “need to avoid this becoming self-serving and a box ticking exercise”.
The emphasis must be on the public and not on the industry, otherwise the dashboard “will end-up a flop and a missed opportunity to help savers that need support,” he added.
Citing government estimates, evestor said that people will have 11 different jobs during their careers, which means 11 different pension plans.
The pension dashboard is supposed to help consumers track down £60m worth of pension pots.
Mr Morrow said: “Between now and the dashboard launching, more and more people will be affected by pensions auto-enrolment.
“This increases the risk of forgotten pension pots and people’s pensions not performing to their full potential. Savers should seek out regulated financial advice to review their pensions situation.”
Steve Carlson, a chartered financial planner at Cardiff-based Carlson Wealth Management, said the dashboard could be “an incredibly useful tool if it enables people to see what pensions they have got, as it is very easy to lose track of them”.
He said: “I frequently find pensions for people they did not even know they had.
“Knowing the pension [pots] you have is an excellent starting point, but many people will still need advice on how to use their pensions to generate the income they need in retirement.”
maria.espadinha@ft.com
