Paul Sweeting FIA C.Act, President at the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA), said: The Pensions Commission’s interim report delivers a clear urgent message: automatic enrolment has boosted participation, yet 15 million working-age adults are under-saving, risking inadequate retirement incomes. The IFoA strongly supports this assessment, which comes as no surprise. However, action to address this coming crisis is essential and overdue. The next phase of this work needs to address challenges set out in the report around contribution levels, risk-sharing, intergenerational fairness, and real-life disruptions. These often disproportionately impact the self-employed, low-earners and women dealing with career breaks for carers, maternity leave and moving from full time to part time work. It is important that, as with the Turner commission, industry, regulators and policy makers all engage to create a similar consensus to address the current under-saving by many. Through a multi-year effort the IFoA has analysed what pension gaps are, why they occur, and what can be done to help. This includes our most recent report containing recommendations on creating a pension system fit for the 21st century. This report is a timely wake up call. The IFoA is committed to working with the sector to bridge these gaps and build practical solutions. These include flexible auto enrolment, clear default decumulation pathways, and greater use of combined defined contribution (CDC) schemes for more stable outcomes, while protecting the pension system’s core strengths. But there is no escaping the fact that to achieve adequate incomes in retirement, people need to save more.
SPP President, Sophia Singleton, said: “This interim report by the Pensions Commission is a welcome intervention, highlighting many of the most pressing challenges facing the UK pensions system. In particular, the Commission’s report underscores the urgent need to boost savings for groups who are currently underserved including low earners, the self-employed and women. Many of the issues the Commission points to were previously identified in the SPP’s own ‘Saving Retirement’ paper in 2025. With broad consensus on the problems, we must now move from analysis to action. The SPP looks forward to continuing to work with the Commission as they prepare their final report, and with government, to implement the policy changes needed to improve pension outcomes for all.”
Doug Brown, CEO of Insurance, Wealth and Retirement at Aviva, said: “We welcome the Pensions Commission’s findings and its focus on helping more people save for later life. Too many people are still not building enough retirement income - and our research found less than half of mid-retirees feel on track to make their pension last a lifetime. Auto-enrolment has been a real success, but reforms could help people save more and improve retirement outcomes. Setting a long-term roadmap for reform, including gradually increasing contributions, would be a big step towards a pensions system that better reflects how people live and work today.”
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