Reports show that there is some cause to look forward with optimism about the future of pension saving

26 September 2017

Two new reports published this month have shown that there is some cause to look forward with optimism about the future of pension saving.

New figures that have been published by the government have revealed that saving into a workplace pension is now considered 'the norm' for employees, with more than 83% of those people eligible for a workplace pension saving into one. This, of course, is largely down to the introduction of automatic enrolment where all eligible employees are now automatically enrolled into a workplace pension scheme.

Work and Pensions Secretary David Gauke said:

"Automatic enrolment has been a huge success, helping millions more people save into a workplace pension.

"These figures underline the fact that saving for a pension has become the new normal with people from all walks of life embracing it. A private pension should not be a privilege, it should be something that the vast majority can work towards to complement the state pension in later life."

In another report that was released this week, it was revealed that 40% of millennials plan to increase their pension contributions in the next year and 75% of those people questioned would increase their pension payments in line with any pay rise. This ties in with the recent government report above that found 79% of respondents with a workplace pension said that they would welcome increasing their saving rate. This is good news as automatic enrolment contributions will rise from a minimum of 5% of total salary from April 2018 and to 8% of minimum salary from April 2019.

The positive reports come as the government is currently reviewing how to continue and build upon the undoubted success of automatic enrolment which has seen millions more people begin saving for their retirement. The review will report to parliament by the end of 2017.