Time to get pumped about pensions

Pensions make people squirm.

Clunky, jargon-juiced information, numbers to bend the noggin, and occasionally industry communication that hasn’t evolved since the Jurassic period. How can something so important - so crucial to living what could be decades of your life in retirement - be so obtuse? So unapproachably dense?  

Pensions awareness is the brainchild of us Pension Geeks, both myself and Jonathan Bland, once upon a time, were similarly dumbfounded by the fact we didn’t understand pensions.

So we thought: “why not commemorate this? Thousands - no - millions of people across the UK must be in a similar boat!”

And we were right. At least 24 per cent of Brits aged under 35 admit that they don’t have any pension savings at all (according to Unbiased.co.uk).

Pension awareness and empowerment

And that’s today - just imagine what the dustbowl of pre-pension awareness Britain looked like 10 years ago. You shudder to think.

Historians will be writing and arguing about it for generations to come, I assure you. We’ve devoted the last 10 years to breaking down pension barriers with lucid lingo, to give back so that people could actually get stuck into their pension like never before.  

So, a day was outlined. Posters were drawn, t-shirts donned, and buses wrapped. The 15 September became Pension Awareness Day, and we’ve never looked back. Since then, the “day” has extended to a “week”. It’s now just called, simply, Pension Awareness. But we still celebrate the 15 September and hold it as the focal point of an annual week-long event.  

This year is the 10th anniversary of Pension Awareness. And, although it’s evolved and adapted and grown, it’s still fundamentally the same as it always was: an event where we can unite the experts, invite people to come together and think about what their retirement means to them, and - above all – feel empowered to take control of their pensions. 

Pension Awareness runs from 11 to 15 September - ending on the day of all days: Pension Awareness Day.  

The perfect end to year 10

From Monday to Friday, there’ll be 3, 45 minute live webinars a day, covering everything from some of the broader topics to the grizzly details of more particular pension problems.

On Monday 11 September, for instance, the week is kicked off by the usual curtain raiser ‘What is a pension and how do pensions work?’, followed by Tuesday’s ‘Building a solid foundation today for a secure financial future’.

More so than ever - and especially in the wake of the cost of living crisis - Pension Awareness is shining a light on financial wellbeing. It’s a popular topic, but Pension Awareness wants to be the harbingers of happiness in retirement - and financial wellbeing is key. You can bet it’s going to be sprinkled across the week.  

Making pensions fun

In each webinar (and shrouded by the financial wellbeing magic dust), Pension Awareness invites an industry expert to explain the intricacies of pensions in the simplest way: with a bit of fun and laughter along the way. They’ll share tips, tell anecdotes from their years of experience in the industry, and chat with Jonathan and myself - all the while answering questions from a live audience through a live chat function.  

This year’s line-up includes ex-pensions minister Sir Steve Webb, responsible for implementing automatic enrolment and the State Pension triple-lock during his time in office during the 2010 coalition. He’ll be delving into the State Pension webinar ‘The New State Pension explained’ on Wednesday 13 September.

And it doesn’t stop there. Pension Awareness is also joined this year by MoneyHelper, who’ll be adding their expertise on pensions and tax to the webinars, alongside speakers from almost every financial provider in Britain - meaning our audience will be able to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth.  

Pension Awareness is building on the incredible success of 2022’s record-breaking event. It attracted over a million website visits, 23 million social media impressions, and over 40,000 attendees during the week. But to keep Pension Awareness visible, to keep building exposure, and to keep bringing it to more and more people across Britain, Pension Awareness needs the help of partners and sponsors.  

Pension awareness week: How to get involved

We’re urging all workplaces to get on board with the week-long pensions parade. What better time is there to encourage employees to put themselves in the driver’s seat with their pensions and to take part in the live webinars? And for businesses, it’s a great opportunity to let your people know the benefits your company pension scheme offers. 

As a trustee or pension scheme, you can show your support by spreading the word about Pension Awareness to any clients or customers – encouraging them to join in with the live sessions.

You could even produce your own helpful resources to supplement the live shows we have taking place. There’s also opportunities for sponsorship – either by becoming an ambassador or supporter of the campaign. The packages vary depending on how involved a sponsor would like to be and whether they’d like to take part in becoming one of the experts to deliver live shows.  

We have free, promotional material available online, to bedeck your offices, your socials, your intranet, and assorted nearby lampposts with pension paraphernalia. 

Pension Awareness begins on the 11 September - to book onto the free live shows visit the website pensionawarenessday.com and for the latest, follow the campaign on social: Twitter @PensionDay

Rachel Parkinson is co-founder and operations director of Pension Geeks