NEST Insight report into assisting the self-employed with pension savings
13 October 2019
The collaborative research arm of NEST – NEST Insight have published a report that incorporates the results of some recent investigative research that shone the spotlight on how the self-employed can be supported in terms of saving for their retirement and pensions.
Individuals who are classed as employees are entitled to save for their pensions through PAYE and receive percentage-based contributions from their employer in line with auto-enrolment legislation. These rules don’t extend to cover self-employed people and so NEST have joined forces with the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) to see if there are any avenues that self-employed people can follow to bolster their savings for retirement.
The results of the research are somewhat contradictory as approximately three quarters of those who are self-employed hold the belief that it is necessary to save for retirement yet only less than a quarter actively save into a pension fund. As expected, over half of respondents would find guidance around saving for their retirement beneficial and find the idea of a share of their income being automatically placed into savings on their behalf appealing.
The Minister for Pensions and Financial Inclusion, Guy Opperman commented, ‘We want to boost the future prospects of millions of hard-working self-employed people.’