Baroness Ros Altmann, a former Pensions Minister, has urged the industry to be more positive about what people are saving for retirement rather than berating them for not saving enough.

Speaking at the launch of the Pensions Quality Mark’s Good Communications Guide launch, she said one of the things the industry hasn’t done is promote pensions. Instead, the message coming from the industry is more “you’re never doing enough, whatever you’re doing, it’s not well done that’s great, it’s not enough.”

“What we want to do is make sure people stay in and understand the benefits of pensions, and in order to do that, I think one of the issues that I’ve often reckoned with is that decisions are, to some extent, made emotionally, not just logically,” Altmann continued.

“Trying to explain to somebody the logic of pensions, on its own, probably isn’t enough, and that’s why I think helping people understand what they need to do, and be proud of doing it, is all an element of pensions communication that we haven’t done. It’s not just about increasing the knowledge, it’s also about changing the lingo.”

Altmann, who described the guide as a “call for action”, said the guide is a resource for the industry so that everybody can help communicate and hopefully encourage, engage and enthuse people more about pensions.

Also speaking at the launch was newly appointed PQM chair Gregg McClymont who on the subject of getting people to engage with their pension said that although the challenge is “significant”, it is a “challenge that we have to try and meet”.

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