Over 14 million savers now have access to the PLSA’s Retirement Living Standards (RLS) helping them to picture their retirement futures.In total, some 14.4 million savers – including over 10 million active savers – will have access to the Standards following their adoption by 53 organisations including 30 pension schemes, 17 pension business adopters and six other bodies.
The PLSA has stated that it has set an adoption target of 90 per cent of active savers via scheme adopters by 2025.
Pitched at three levels: minimum, moderate and comfortable, the Standards have been designed to fill the gaps in current approaches and act as a practical and meaningful starting point on a saver’s engagement journey.
Like the five-a-day healthy eating initiative, the PLSA’s ambition is for the Retirement Living Standards to become a widely adopted industry standard. For example, some schemes will use them in general information for their members, in annual benefit statements, or to develop personalised targets for their members’ pension planning.
In a poll conducted at the PLSA’s first-ever virtual Annual Conference, over two-thirds (67 per cent) attendees who have used the standards stated that they had used the RLS as part of online information, whilst a third had included this within annual benefits statements. Almost a fifth (19 per cent) had embedded the Standards into tools they provide for savers, including retirement income calculators.
Nigel Peaple, Director of Policy & Research PLSA, says: “With over 14 million savers now having easy access to the Retirement Living Standards, we are well on the way to helping the UK establish a common language to engage with retirement saving. By detailing the cost of different retirement lifestyles, the standards are helping people plan for, and picture, their futures.
“It’s been really encouraging to see so many pension and savings organisations proactively come to us asking for help with adoption and wanting to know more about the Standards.”
