Matthew Binnington, Business Development Manager at PTL, said: ‘We wholeheartedly welcome the launch of the PLSA retirement living standards. These will plot what three levels of retirement could look like based on three baskets of commodities. They describe a minimum, moderate and a comfortable standard of living. This will help members to genuinely envision their future self and what their retirement will look like in terms of practical commodities and choice.
“We are an early adopter of these standards and will encourage their use wherever we can across our client base. These standards have the potential to become part of the national dialogue in the same way as ‘five a day’ has and, in doing so, dramatically shift public engagement with pension saving by helping individuals to better envision their future. In turn, this should result in more informed contribution engagement, better and more proactive investment decisions to suit individual needs and, so, better retirement incomes. At the end of the day we are all aimed towards one ultimate objective - to try as much as possible to ensure people are able to live comfortably and without hardship in retirement. These standards have all the hallmarks of a potential game changer and should be fully embraced by the industry.”
Steven Cameron, Pensions Director at Aegon, comments: “The new Retirement Living Standards launched by the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association are a useful addition to tools which can raise awareness of what you might need to save in order to have a certain lifestyle in retirement. Anything which helps individuals better engage with the reality of their future lives in retirement has to be a good thing. The sooner people are able to picture the retirement they aspire to, the sooner they can start making sure they are paying in enough, or investing appropriately, to deliver on that aspiration.
“The standards will help people undertake a ‘reality check’ on their retirement needs and aspirations and will hopefully encourage them to take early action. Having rules of thumb and broad brush examples will help point people in the right direction. However, we then need to ensure people build on this and for many, there will be real benefit in seeking financial advice or using other more individualised tools to further personalise their retirement plans and achieve the lifestyle in retirement that’s right for them.”
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