Can better financial wellbeing lead to higher savings?

The DC pensions industry has moved forward since auto-enrolment was introduced, with many more saving into a pension. This is great news, but challenges remain. How do we help individuals see the value in saving more for a future that seems a long way off?

We can all pat ourselves on the back. Auto-enrolment (AE) has been a huge success with nine million individuals being auto-enrolled since 2012 and nine out of ten of them still saving. Of course, we wait with bated breath for the impact of the recent statutory increases on minimum contributions, but today we know that more women, low-paid workers and young people are saving for the future.

Over one million employers are participating in this social change and the government is bullish about it too. “We are rebuilding the UK’s savings culture, and as a pioneer of this shift in workplace pension saving, other countries are seeking to learn from our experience,” said the then secretary of state for work & pensions in December 2017.