Government urged to save company pensions

Fri, 18 Aug 2006

The government has been urged to take action, in order to stop reform from "eroding" company pensions.

A new study conducted by pension providers Aegon, Standard Life, Scottish Widows and AXA, indicates that most models for the government's pension reforms could "undermine existing savers".

Steve Folkard, head of pensions and savings policy at AXA Life, commented: "We support reform, but this work shows that avoiding damage to the prospects for today’s savers has to be treated as seriously as the goal of helping the under-pensioned."

Following the Turner report into pensions, the government recently announced a full reform of the pension system, including restoring the link to earnings and raising the retirement age to 68 in the future.

The government also plans to establish a national pension savings scheme, with auto-enrolment, which critics claim could lead to employers making smaller contributions to company pension plans.

Employers currently making the highest contributions are most likely to cut back, the new report states.

"The government can’t ignore this. There are five million people who could be affected in a variety of ways," Mr Folkard concluded.


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