Speaking on an episode of ITV programme Tonight last night (7 July), PSIG chair Margaret Snowden said savers were not always thinking twice before being tempted into significant changes to their money.
“Now we are trying to encourage people to slow down a little bit and think if it’s too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true,” she said.
The episode of the show – entitled ‘Pensions: How to Save More?‘ – hailed the progress in Britain’s collective pension savings thanks to auto-enrolment but warned that the current cost of living crisis had seen many schemes struggling as well as savers opting out.
Scottish Widows head of policy, pensions and investments Pete Glancy also spoke on the programme about the effects of the current economic environment.
“If people stop saving for retirement today, not only do they miss out on the contributions that would have gone into their pension, they lose out on potentially decades of investment returns,” he warned. “All of that can amount to thousands of pounds.”
In addition to this, around 10,000 people each year are now falling victim to a pension scam, the show noted.
“That is a phenomenal number,” Snowden said. “People save for years and years for their retirement and for it to go in a flash is just unacceptable.”
The issue of scams has been particularly prevalent in the industry in the last two years, spurred on by the negative effects of Covid on saver vulnerability. When Professional Pensions polled its Pensions Buzz…
