Karen Quinn is right to say that pension communicators need to raise their game and she’s right to point to Scott McClure on TikTok to show us how to do it.
Scott is articulate, energetic and entertaining, I cannot say the same about all pension communications.
We may feel he is wrong but his views are clearly firmly held
- He doesn’t see himself living much beyond the point when he packs in work
- He sees the pension industry as a con
- He has better things to do with his money than invest in pensions.
As an “influencer”, Scott’s got an audience – not a Martin Lewis audience but with 300 likes to 50 dislikes, an audience that is a lot bigger than mine!
We should listen to what he has to say. He is saying that rich people do not use workplace pensions, they self-direct their money into property and more lucrative investments. He’s telling people who subscribe to his channel to aspire to be wealthy.
I don’t think there is much wrong in that, so long as he recognizes that any young entrepreneur can use the free money from their employers and the taxman to fund a SIPP in due course and self-direct in a smart way.
Has anyone contacted Scott and offered him a job? He’s exactly the kind of person Next Gen should be looking to have within the tent.