Lessons for providers, trustees and those who advise them

Key messages, for consideration by trustees, providers and those who advise them include:

The need for a diversity of ways of communicating about pensions. This includes:

  • Understand that your membership is diverse and that what works for one member may not work for another; this suggests using a range of formats / channels, noting particularly the reliance of younger people on social media.
  • Using a range of voices, including trusted third parties such as spokespeople within different communities.
  • Ensuring that official sources such as Pension Wise communicate in a way that reflects the increasing diversity of DC pension savers.
  • Tailoring communications for different points in people’s lives.
  • Recognising that English will not be the first language of some, and being especially careful about pension jargon.

Not assuming that people even understand the basics. This includes:

  • Just because someone has been told something once, perhaps at a time when they were starting a new job and were focused on other things, do not assume that it has sunk in.
  • Make sure all communications reiterate the key points in a clear and jargon-free way.

The need for information to be ‘where people are’ already, rather than having to go and hunt it down.

This includes:

  • Removing as many barriers as possible for those who want to obtain information.
  • Finding out more about where members are going for their information about pensions and forming partnerships.
  • Engage with national pension awareness campaigns and promote to members with clear signposting about how they can get the information they need.
  • Exploring the potential for community-based engagement in settings such as faith-based centres (Mosques, Temples, Churches, etc.) or other community settings (such as schools, community centres, social clubs).
  • Trustees should collaborate with employers to establish the most effective way of delivering key information, and encourage employers to see the value in educating and informing their workforce about pensions.
  • Start the process by delivering more financial education – including an introduction to pensions – within the school system. Click here for a full version of the report as a PDF including extended participant quotes.