The volume of people seeking further support regarding their pension saving, and employer support often falling short of expectations when provided, has lead to “major concerns”, according to Guiide.

The pension calculator service found that the majority (85 per cent) of workplace pension savers accessing their service felt that they do not receive enough support from their employers regarding their pension.

Half (50 per cent) of the respondents felt they were not receiving any support at all from their employers.

A further 35 per cent said that they received some support, but not enough, while 15 per cent were satisfied with the level of support.

“It may of course be the case that visitors to our site would be expected to answer this way,” commented Guiide founder and actuary, Kevin Hollister.

“However, from our own research into the help provided and the volumes of people seeking further support each month, it seems the support provided, if any, is falling short of expectations in many cases, for the large number of people looking for it. This leads to a major concern. 

“Pensions freedoms have been in place for a number of years now, bringing strongly welcomed flexibility for pension savers, but also vastly more responsibility on the individual themselves around planning retirement.”

Hollister acknowledged that while there have been “excellent innovations” to help people understand what retirement income may be sufficient, such as the PLSA’s Retirement Living Standards, “real practical tools” seem to be “far behind the curve”.

“The industry and schemes are playing catch up here to some degree,” he continued.

“If advice levels stay at the current rates, without further innovation in non advised guidance and support, the primary risk of introducing the pension freedoms, i.e. people running out of money due to an unrealistic withdrawal strategy in retirement, becomes increasingly real. 

“Alongside this, other risks such as poor investment choices, or reducing the pots available for income through unnecessary charges and tax also become more evident.”

Hollister concluded that the lack of support in this area was “worrying” and urged employers and the pensions industry to do more in supporting savers’ objectives.

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