Isn’t it odd that employers are being approached to set aside time so L&G cand do a sales pitch to them? That it is compulsory to be sold the virtue of saving money is just odd.

Has anyone thought how this will land with workers?

As Jeannie Drake told the Pensions UK conference, “the apparatus is all there“, money can flow from payroll to meet whatever contribution the employer sees fit for the employee and the employee can top up what they’re paying in a variety of ways (including the sophisticated salary sacrifice).

The best thing about auto-enrolment was it caught up a great number of people who did nothing to stop money going  . I dare say that if employers increased the employee contribution with an opt-out on the increase, the majority of people would stick with the higher rate.

There are a few people who object to any kind of payroll deduction and will opt-out at the first opportunity and there are those who look to the maximum they can fund their pot to.

In the middle are the people who wish they could be left alone and that the employer will do all that is necessary like pay NI for state pension and contributions to whoever manages the workplace pension.

I wonder how many people really want to have education if they’ve opted out or if they are funding to the max. It’s the people in the middle that L&G want to have a shot at. But how those who “should save more” will take it , having to be educated is hard to know.

I did employee seminars when DB schemes were closing and being replaced by DC schemes.I remember the surly ranks who knew very well they were being rooked of a better pension. The unions had told them that they were being ripped off and at one quarry, the questions all came in Welsh, to the great amusement of all.

My view is that pensions should not need commercial providers to explain them. They should be easy enough for employers and union reps to explain. CDC is like that, you pay money in and you get pension in return. The pension should be payable to you and to your spouse (if you have one in retirement). You will be expected to take tax free cash but you can opt to swap cash for more income. You will have a normal retirement date but you can decide to take your pension earlier or later. If you can get the state pension , you can understand a CDC pension.

As for the decision of how much you pay in and what you do with the pots you’ve built up, that can be managed with apps and hopefully the dashboard will enable you and your provider to get on with it , without advice. The only area you’ll need advice is in transferring DB to CDC which we suspect will only for a very small minority!

The hole that employers have dug themselves is swapping pensions for pots. It is possible for employers to get out of this hole but it will take a progressive employer to take that step. There is a lot of reputation at stake for both employer pension departments and for DC workplace pension providers.

News that one of the three largest DC workplace pensions is promoting compulsory education make staff understand their pension pot, is an admission of failure.