Yesterday,  Pensions UK took the right step in publishing research it did in September with Yonder Consulting on over 2,000 randomly suggested “savers” hoping for a pension that would meet their later life needs.

There is something important here, an admission that the pensions industry has been rather less than clear and prone to hiding the truth from people. The truth will out and as we enter 2026, the year when we hope the dashboard is “ready”, the question should be will the industry be ready for the clarity and accessibility of the dashboard. Below is the statement made by Pensions UK.

I suspect that telling people what their pots are worth as pensions is not the kind of clarity they look forward to , the dashboard not the accessibility that people thought would happen when they were in control.

What Pensions UK asked the press to publish

UK pension savers want simpler, more accessible ways to manage their retirement savings, according to a new survey from Pensions UK.

Savers have clear preferences for how they receive information. Email updates are the most popular, chosen by 62%, followed by websites (44%) and paper statements or letters (37%). Mobile apps (30%) and official Government updates (30%) are also widely used, while employer communications (28%) and financial advisers or in-person advice (24%) continue to play an important role. Newer channels such as video guides (13%), webinars (7%), social media updates (6%), and AI or chatbots (5%) remain less popular, although younger savers (18–24-year-olds) show higher interest (social media 11% and AI or chatbots 8%). Only 4% said they do not want to receive any pension information.

The survey also highlights areas where savers feel less confident. Knowing how much they should be saving for retirement (28%), planning for an adequate retirement income (26%), understanding the impact of inflation on future income (25%), and navigating tax rules for contributions or withdrawals (around 20%) are top concerns. Other issues, including knowing how much they have in all of their pensions (20%), investment choices (15%) and responsible pension options (10%), are less common but still notable.

Most savers are committed to long-term security and want methods and communications that make pensions easier to understand and manage. More than three-quarters (77%) want to see all their pensions in one place, and 61% support automatically combining multiple pots. Nearly four in five respondents (79%) say they value the ability to choose how their pension is invested, showing the importance they place on transparency and personal control.

Matthew Blakstad, Deputy Director of Strategic Policy and Research at Pensions UK, said;

“Many pension savers want to engage with their retirement savings, and have the relevant information at their fingertips. They want to see all their pensions in one place, combine pots automatically, and make informed decisions about how their money is invested.

“Providers and the Government must make pension information clear, simple, and accessible through the channels people actually use. Improving communication is not just a convenience, it is essential for helping these savers take control of their retirement.

“As we gear up for the new year, with personal finance planning top of people’s minds, and with yet more changes coming to pensions policy, there is no better time than to act on these findings. We believe that every pension member who wants to engage should have easy access to relevant information, so they can understand their options and engage confidently with their savings.”

It is an indictment on us that we are not offering people information that they can understand and make use of. This is not the finding of countries in Scandinavian Europe  who have had made clear accessible disclosure digital for some time.

I hope that if not in 2026 , as soon as possible after, people will be able to find the clarity on their phones and laptops when they press “show“.  What they see may not be what we would like them to see, but that is Torsten Bell’s point, we really need to work on pension value for the money in their pots.

Long overdue

I trawled through the photos on this blog five years, this is one that I downloaded five years ago.

There was in December 2020 something new about putting relevant  information on our screens. Now we have become used to it in most areas of our lives. Sadly we do not yet have open and accessible information that we can use to manage the later stages of our lives – financially.

This is a step in the right direction Pensions UK