The ability to adopt financial education into the workplace and encourage financial wellbeing is more desired than ever as more than 10 per cent of employees find it difficult to make time for their financial health. The practice of planning for the future is sometimes impacted by someone’s ability to keep track of all their pensions.

Aegon has suggested that 17 per cent of individuals with multiple pensions do not have details of at least one of them readily available, a figure that has barely improved over the past five years. This suggests that more 6m people between 22 and 65 do not have a full understanding about some of their retirement savings, and more than 20 per cent do not know the values of their pensions.

Multiple pension numbers rise

The number of people with multiple pensions has increased by 11 percent to 73 percent since 2016, highlighting the suggested need for the delivery of pension dashboards to ensure that losing pensions does not become a more common issue. While these pots are generally small, dating from when an individual started to work, they can of course play a huge part in planning for retirement and improving financial wellbeing.

Overall, employee benefits have advanced greatly over the past several decades and will continue to do so, particularly as the integration of financial wellbeing in the workplace becomes more of a focal point for both employers and employees. From an employer perspective, the UK economy showed strong growth in the second quarter of 2021. This, coupled with the Bank of England’s forecast for overall annual growth of 7.25 per cent, should be welcome news for employers throughout the country.

However, this has caused some concern around staff retention, meaning benefits packages will certainly play an important role in helping to attract and retain employees, with many employers now incorporating packages into wider retention strategies. 

Christina Melling is head of propositions for a financial planning company