“Sadly, the FCA’s latest figures on pension scam activity are unsurprising. Despite considerable efforts across the industry over the past few years, there seems to be an almost ingrained ‘it couldn’t happen to me’ attitude amongst many pension scheme members. There is a huge lack of engagement among people when it comes to their pension savings. This is highlighted by the FCA’s findings showing that 76% of savers approaching retirement know the cost of items related to their football team, but only 43% understand the value of their pension pot.
“This is a scary statistic, especially as it focuses on the demographic that should be most engaged with their pension savings – if people in their 50s don’t know the value of their pension pots, then how can they plan for their retirement, or have confidence that they will have the necessary funds to retire? Members who lose their pension savings to scammers at this late stage can least afford to do so and have virtually no time to rebuild those savings.
“Unfortunately, these latest statistics are nothing new and the vital message about being protected against scams still doesn’t seem to be getting through. If something seems too good to be true, then it probably is.”
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