Tuesday 6 June 2006

Seminar: pensions, retirement planning and advice needs

The Resolution Foundation held a seminar on 6 June 2006 to discuss pensions, retirement planning and advice needs in light of the publication of the Pensions White Paper. It also aimed to draw on experience in New Zealand, following an evaluation of the work of the Retirement Commission and its Sorted website commissioned by the Foundation from the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI). The findings of an evalutation of New Zealand’s Retirement Commission, commissioned by the Foundation from the Pensions Policy Institute, were also presented.

The seminar, chaired by Sue Regan, Chief Executive of the Resolution Foundation, was attended by a wide range of policy-makers, pensions experts and representatives from the financial services industry, consumer and voluntary sectors. The seminar followed the Treasury Select Committee’s report into the design of the National Pensions Savings Scheme which recommended that the Government consider the need for generic advice at an early stage alongside its reform proposals.

The discussion which followed the presentations addressed the implications of the proposed reforms, the role of the state, lessons from the Retirement Commission in New Zealand and the options for delivering advice to support pension reform. The seminar highlighted a strong degree of consensus that meeting people’s information and support needs should be a priority in taking forward the pension reform agenda.