Next stop: Retirement

It brings pensions to the people rather than vice versa. You can read more about the campaign in Sophia Imeson’s blog piece.

The blue bus took on board anyone with a question about pensions – of whom there are many. Old Mutual Wealth recently released a survey showing that almost all (90 per cent) of 30 to 45-year-olds have not yet started planning for retirement.

Illustration by Ben Jennings

And civil service pension scheme MyCSP has listed no fewer than 17 words that are commonly misunderstood by its members. Trivial commutation tops the list, followed by EPA and partnership pension account.

Although we know what it means to put off retirement planning – start saving later, lose out on compound interest, end up with a smaller pot – many still encounter this problem, mostly because even beginning to understand how pensions work requires more time than people with jobs and kids often have.

Cutting the time required to read about and understand pensions means simplify to the core, visualise, and give people a clear idea of what saving or not saving means in practice – what kind of entertainment, car and clothes they might (or might not) be able to afford when they are retired.

While paper can still work for this, many schemes now find that going online for communication drives engagement.

Even for seasoned pension professionals (and journalists), planning their own financial future can be a slice of time they’d prefer to spend catching up on work, being with their families, or reading up on the latest advances in technology/medicine/gardening – in short, anything and everything.

So the bus that brings pensions to the people is more than necessary. I remember my grandparents used to go on coach trips a lot. Maybe if we get more people on board, and at a younger age, the bus will have illustrated how early planning can ensure an enjoyable retirement.