Planning for retirement | 8 in 10 young workers want a single pension pot for life

Younger people are in favour of government plans for a pension pot for life, a new survey reveals.

A survey of UK workers by the Social Market Foundation – a cross-party think tank – supported by pension and savings fintech Cushon, has revealed high levels of support for a pension ‘pot for life’ that the employee gets to decide on. While 25-34 year olds are the most supportive (78%), support is also high among 35-44 year olds (73%) and 45-54 year olds (69%).

The SMF’s survey findings come at a time when the government is consulting on proposals for a ‘lifetime provider model’, aiming to address the proliferation of small pots that comes from automatic enrolment – pension pots worth less than £1,000 that can get lost over the course of a person’s career as they switch jobs. However, the pensions industry is resisting the changes, citing barriers such as consequences for market competition, levels of engagement, higher fees.

The SMF noted that these issues exist in the current landscape, and could be addressed under ‘pot for life’, which has the added benefit of giving people desired control over their pensions contributions’ destination.