Pensions & savings
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Wealth & assets

Lessons from New Zealand’s Retirement Commission for UK Policy on Financial Awareness and Advice

This report was commissioned by the Resolution Foundation to inform our work on low earners’ financial advice services. The report investigates how the Retirement Commission in New Zealand encourages greater financial awareness and provides financial advice and comments on the especially relevant lessons for UK policy, taking into account differences between the UK and New Zealand financial environments.

Key findings

The Retirement Commission’s education programme largely works though the Sorted website. This is an established part of the New Zealand Financial scene, with high awareness and usage.

Reasons for the Retirement Commission’s success:

  • It is independent of Government and the industry
  • It provides guidance to help people make financial decisions, but does not give ‘advice’
  • Sorted is about lifetime financial planning, it is user friendly and trusted, and personalises its guidance
  • The Commission is developing ways to reach people in different ways beyond Sorted

Lessons suggested for the UK:

  • There is no obvious reason why the UK should not have a source of independent, generic personal financial planning
  • The guidance should come from a body that can be seen to be independent of Government and the industry
  • A website is the obvious first step
  • Conversation with potential users has to cover all lifetime financial issues

Further reading

Ineffective Savings Accounts
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Molly Broome
In too deep?
The impact of the cost of living crisis on household debt
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Felicia Odamtten, Simon Pittaway
Precautionary tales
Tackling the problem of low saving among UK households
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Molly Broome, Ian Mulheirn, Simon Pittaway