Jonathan accosting younguns up north!
Yesterday was Pensions Awareness Day. The Pension Plowman apologises to the Pensions Geeks for not shouting about it on this blog yesterday but those at Friends of Auto Enrolment yesterday afternoon wore the badges, those at the Payroll World party last night drunk the Kool Aid and even those at the Tech Leaders Summit yesterday morning heard from me on the importance of paying attention to the pension.
On Wednesday, head geek – Ralph Turner reminded those at the LCIM DC event that Pensions Awareness Day, as instigated and maintained by Pension Geeks is not about preaching to the converted but about telling those millions entering auto-enrolment for the first time to shape up and get pension fit.
For those who want to know how to talk about pensions to millenials, I’ve published Claer Barrett’s great peice in the FT
But Pensions Awareness Day really focusses on the bus that drives up and down the country (sadly not visiting London due to outrageous parking fees!). The driving force of the bus are Jonathan Bland and Rachel Parkinson
Jonathan and Rachel selfie
Honorary shout outs to Scottish Widows and Stuart Hopkins for keeping the bus in petrol!
And thanks for the frequently asked questions board that keeps me focussed on what people really need from pension comms.
what people want to know
My best bit this year? The brilliantly crafted videos, edited presumably from the bus. This one’s from Scouseland – love the couple who’ve decided that if one needs £40k pa in retirement , they each need £4ok pa in retirement (hope they’ve got Protected LTAs).
It takes real balls to do this stuff – (I know- I tried for a day last year). The bus rolls on year after year and it’s easy to take it for granted.
I nearly did this year and if Ralph Turner hadn’t accosted me on Wednesday I would have let the opportunity slip. Thanks to Pension Geeks and thanks to Scottish Widows and all the other sponsors- telling people about the merit of saving for your retirement in the shopping centres of Britain – absolutely brilliant!
Get on board
