Letter: young people 'asking the right questions' on pensions

I recently attended a Financial Services Forum event, ‘The Disengaged Consumer’, where Dr Michelle Harrison from TNS-BMRB delivered a very insightful first presentation.

One of the key areas of concern highlighted was exactly this [young] generation.

Michelle actually put much of the blame of expectation on the generation of baby-boomers about to retire, and how their lifestyles – through being one of the first generations of mass home-owners and a majority in receipt of defined benefit pensions – had set wholly unrealistic expectations for their children, and even their grandchildren, now that life expectancy is so much longer.

So much appears to be underway from government to damage incentives to save via pensions and other longer-term savings

When that expectation is dashed, reality appears to be even harder.

The current generation still wants to aspire to that lifestyle, and as they start to understand the cost of doing so (because everyone is telling them) they expect and demand more help towards it.

The private sector has some answers, most of the them the uncomfortable 'you will need to save more and for longer', but the state has little else to offer.

The dichotomy is that so much appears to be underway from government to damage incentives to save via pensions and other longer-term savings, through near constant tinkering of, in many cases, minor legislative changes while being bereft of any central, supportive message.

The young man in your article who stood up did indeed absolutely ask the right question – unfortunately, because the answer isn’t palatable, I fear he’s not going to receive a proper response any time soon.

Greg Kingston is head of marketing at Suffolk Life