We asked a 1000 people…

As an industry we know that:

• the current ratio of people working versus those in retirement will half over the next two decades,
• the pending pension burden is unlikely to be absorbed by the state,
• approximately 50% of people working in Ireland do not have a pension and
• life and pension sales according to the IIF (Irish Insurance Federation) 2012 annual report has fallen to “barely 40% of their 2007 peak”.

Unsurprisingly, pensions coverage is being debated ad nausem by the entire pensions industry. However, amongst all the various discussion, debates and column inches the view of the Irish public is often overlooked.

As a result of this, Independent Trustee Company commissioned a RED C survey to investigate why people are reluctant to invest in pensions. We surveyed over 1000 people with some interesting results;

Findings

• Whilst affordability is an issue, it is not the overriding problem, poor performance and access are also a major cause of concern.
• ‘A fear of losing money’ and ‘affordability’ were found to be the main concerns for female respondents.
• Male respondents were more likely to mention ‘retirement being too far off ‘ and ‘an overall lack of trust’ than their female counterparts.
• Middle-aged respondents were most likely to mention ‘a fear of losing some or all of the money’.
• ‘Affordability’ was most likely to be mentioned by people aged 35-54 years.
• Those over 65 years of age; and younger adults were most likely to say that ‘pensions are too complicated’.

We are still digesting these results but it is clear that the lack of pension investment cannot be dismissed as a problem caused by “the economy”. We believe these results have highlighted the need for transparent and secure pension products. Some industry “experts” would lead you to believe that we need to educate the public; this is rubbish, the industry needs to provide people with a product that is designed with them as the consumer in mind and not the other way around!

Michael Keyes

Sales & Marketing Director