The pensions industry has developed a habit of talking about younger savers as though they are a mystery. Depending on who is speaking, Gen Z is either disengaged, financially distracted or destined never to retire.
Ahead of Pensions Awareness Week, we spoke to a small group of 13 to 22-year-olds about pensions, retirement and their financial future. Their answers revealed something interesting.
The youngest respondents often struggled to explain how pensions work. Yet they could all articulate what worried them about the future. Housing. Inflation. Care costs. The cost of living. AI. Getting a job and keeping one. These concerns came up first, long before pensions or retirement.
“I don’t want to be poor.”
- Boy, aged 13
A 15-year-old worried about inflation. A 17-year-old worried about having enough money to retire and meet the cost of care later in life. A 22-year-old talked about mortgages, housing affordability and the prospect of AI reshaping the jobs market.
By their late teens and early twenties, most respondents understood the basics of long-term saving. When asked what they would do with an extra £100 a month, several mentioned savings, ISAs or investments. The instinct to build financial security was there, even if pensions were not always the first vehicle they mentioned. Respondents placed more importance on enjoying the now, travelling, financial independence and one day living comfortably and no longer needing to work. Still, they were unclear on the journey between now and getting there.
That’s the point.
The challenge isn’t that younger generations don’t care about their financial future. It’s that the pensions industry often engages them only through the pension itself.
Many providers have become very good at communicating contribution rates, investment funds and retirement projections. Far fewer make pensions feel relevant to the financial goals that matter most to younger people today.
How often do providers help parents navigate Junior SIPPs for their children? How often do employers actively connect workplace pensions to the financial priorities employees talk about every day, especially those in the early stages of their careers?
The responses suggest Gen Z isn’t disengaged from money. They are engaged with housing, savings, investment, career prospects and financial independence. Pensions sit within that picture, but they are rarely the starting point. For employers, schemes and providers, that presents an opportunity. Instead of starting by explaining what pensions are, start by helping younger savers understand how pensions support the financial goals they already care about.
If we want Gen Z to engage with pensions, we first need to show how they support the financial goals people are working towards today.
Communications are often designed around pensions. The people receiving them are often thinking about something broader. Understanding those concerns first may drive engagement more effectively than another explanation of contribution rates or retirement ages.
That is where better engagement begins, not with assumptions about why people disengage, but with a clearer understanding of what matters to them in the first place.
At Simplify Consulting, we help schemes design communication and engagement approaches that reflect the needs of today’s members, helping make pensions easier to understand and act upon.
Antonietta Price
Wealth Consultant
