6 ways you can support employees with their retirement goals

id

Work and retirement have shifted significantly over the past 30 years – but expectations haven’t caught up with reality.

id

Standard Life’s Retirement Voice research shows that, on average, people are now retiring five years later than they did in 1994.  While employees say they’d ideally like to retire at around age 62, most expect it won’t be possible until closer to 67.

This creates a clear ‘retirement expectation gap’. And it isn’t equal. Those who are financially struggling face a gap of 7.7 years, compared to just 2.5 years for those who feel financially comfortable.

Confidence also drops as people get older. While 80% of individuals feel confident they could do their job to age 60, this falls to just 49% at age 70 – a concern given that 50% of workers expect they’ll need to continue working beyond their State Pension age.
As an employer, you can play an important role in helping your employees plan, prepare and make the most of their pension savings. In doing so, you can help them bridge the gap between when they’d like to retire and when they realistically can - supporting them to achieve the retirement they want.

Here are six ways you can support your employees.

1. Promote your employer matching scheme

If you offer a matching contribution scheme, make sure your employees understand how it works — and the value it can offer.

By clearly communicating that you’ll match the amount they pay into their pension (up to a certain level), you can encourage employees to increase their contributions beyond the minimum. This can help them get more out of their workplace pension over time.

2. Communicate the tax benefits of bonus sacrifice

If you offer a bonus sacrifice, clear and simple communication is key.

Explain that putting some or all of a bonus into a pension could help employees keep more of their money, as they may pay less in tax and National Insurance. It can also give their pension savings a valuable boost.

Read more about making the most of salary sacrifice before Apil 2029.

3. Focus on financial education

Helping employees understand their finances can support their overall financial wellbeing — and help them feel more confident about the future.

You can signpost to trusted guidance like MoneyHelper, which provides free, impartial support on a wide range of financial topics.

If you’re with Standard Life for your workplace pension scheme, your employees can also access our Money Mindset platform*. It offers bite-sized content, tools and videos, covering everything from managing everyday money to planning for retirement — helping employees build their knowledge in a way that suits them.

4. Help employees find lost pensions

Many employees will have worked for several employers over their career -  and may have built up multiple pension pots along the way.

Helping them track down these pensions can give them a clearer picture of their overall savings.
You can signpost to the Government’s Pension Tracing Service, which can help employees locate old pensions.

Standard Life workplace pension members can also use our Pension Finder tool, available through Money Mindset*. This takes their employment history details from LinkedIn and uses these to automatically search the Pension Tracing Service – making it quick and easy to find old pensions.

5. Provide online retirement tools   

Understanding what retirement might look like can help employees make more informed decisions about their savings.

Tools like our Retirement Income Tool allow employees to explore what their retirement income could be, based on their current savings.

This can help them see whether they’re on track — and what steps they might want to take next.

6. Understand where employees are on track for retirement

Not having enough pension savings can lead to people working longer than they’d planned. That’s why it’s important to identify and support employees who may be at risk of falling behind.

Using tools like our Client Analytics platform, that incorporate Pensions UK’s Retirement Living Standards, can help you understand what level of retirement income your employees may achieve.
 
For those who are most at risk of falling into the ‘minimum’ or ‘below minimum’ bands, you can create a targeted campaign to help them get back on track. 

Helping employees bridge the gap

For many employees, there’s a growing gap between when they’d like to retire and when they expect to be able to.

By offering the right support, tools and guidance, you can help your employees take positive steps towards their retirement goals — building confidence today and helping them achieve the future they want.

 

---

 

*Money Mindset is provided in partnership with Moneyhub Financial Technology Limited. 

For more insights on financial wellbeing, including resources on how you can help support your employees, visit our Financial Wellbeing hub and read our articles.