UK Retirement Planning Market Report 2024
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Discover the latest retirement planning consumer trends with Mintel’s market research report. What are the latest consumer attitudes towards retirement planning? What are the biggest consumer motivations for retirement planning? Answer these questions and more with Mintel’s UK Retirement Planning Market Report 2024.
This Report Looks at the Following Areas:
- Pension ownership and value of pensions.
- Current and anticipated use of non-pension sources of funding for retirement.
- Engagement and understanding of pensions and retirement planning.
- Motivations and drivers for retirement planning.
- Challenges regarding retirement savings/planning.
- Attitudes towards retirement planning.
UK Retirement Market – Current Landscape
The cost of living crisis has prompted more consumers to focus on their immediate financial commitments. Consumers have increasingly postponed retirement planning as more pressing financial matters take precedence, leading to lower engagement. A significant lack of attention is placed on retirement planning. Just under half of non-retired over 55s have not engaged in retirement planning activities in the past year.
UK Retirement Planning Consumer Trends
Psychological barriers, including procrastination and inertia, pose significant threats to retirement planning. While many recognise the importance of planning for retirement and later life, few take the steps to formulate and implement concrete plans, often adopting a ‘tomorrow’s problem’ attitude. They require encouragement and guidance.
Brits show strong interest in consolidating their pension pots, yet very few have acted on this. In part, this is because many don’t know how to consolidate or deem it too time-consuming. This highlights a pressing need for pension providers to simplify the process and educate consumers.
Purchase the full report for a complete analysis of the UK retirement planning market, including consumer insights and marketing trends in the industry. Readers of this report may also be interested in Mintel’s UK Equity Release Schemes Market Report.
Meet The Expert
This report was written by Charlie Landsborough. Charlie joined Mintel in January 2023 as a research analyst for financial services. Prior to joining Mintel, he had just graduated and was working as an investment assistant at an impact investment fund. Charlie has an undergraduate degree in Advertising and a masters degree in Investment and Finance.
Despite auto-enrolment increasing retirement savings and participation, many do not actively engage in retirement planning because they do not see it as an immediate concern.
Charlie Landsborough
Financial Services Analyst
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Executive Summary
- Opportunities for the Retirement Planning market
- Digital solutions could unlock greater engagement in retirement planning
- The gender pension gap remains an ongoing struggle
- Providers need to tackle confidence and understanding
- Market dynamics and outlook
- Outlook for Retirement Planning
- Growth in DC plans has plateaued
- Graph 1: number of DC plans in accumulation, 2017-2023
- Tighter regulations have reduced pension transfer activity
- Graph 2: DB to DC transfers, 2017-2023
- More than half of all accessed pension pots are completely withdrawn
- Sales of retirement income products see strong growth
- Graph 3: number of new pension annuity and income drawdown sales, 2014-23
- Financial advisers play a key role in the retirement planning market
- What consumers want and why
- Workplace pensions form the core of retirement planning
- Graph 4: private pension ownership, 2024
- Over a third of non-retired pension holders have less than £30,000 in pension savings
- Brits expect to draw on multiple sources of funding in retirement
- Few place emphasis on retirement planning
- Less than half of Brits are confident they’ll have enough saved for retirement
- Graph 5: attitudes towards retirement planning, 2024
- Marketing trends
- Advertising expenditure sees sharp decline after a bumper year
- Graph 6: total above-the-line, online display and direct mail advertising expenditure on pensions and retirement planning, 2019-2023
- ‘Pay Your Pension Some Attention’ is back for its second year
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Market Dynamics
- Market overview
- The retirement planning sector is fragmented
- Financial advisers play a key role in the retirement planning market
- Growth in DC plans has plateaued
- Graph 7: number of DC plans in accumulation, 2017-23
- Small pension pots are a concern for the industry
- Tighter regulations have reduced pension transfer activity
- Graph 8: DB to DC transfers, 2018-2023
- More than half of all accessed pension pots are completely withdrawn
- Total number of pension plans accessed for the first time increased in 2023
- Sales of retirement income products see strong growth
- Graph 9: number of new pension annuity and income drawdown sales, 2014-23
- Annuities experience a bumper year amid higher interest rates
- Macro-economic and demographic factors
- Easing inflation has provided reason for optimism…
- Graph 10: CPI inflation rate, 2021-24
- …but consumers are still feeling the pinch
- Graph 11: issues faced in the last two months, 2024
- Interest rates continue to be a key concern
- The recovery in financial wellbeing has slowed
- Graph 12: the financial wellbeing index, 2016-24
- …but consumer confidence is on the mend
- Graph 13: the financial confidence index, 2016-24
- The evolving age structure of the UK’s population
- Graph 14: population, by age, 2004-64
- Legislative and regulatory changes
- The pensions dashboard programme continues to face delays
- State pension age set to rise
- Government plans to extend automatic enrolment
- Government efforts to tackle the gender pensions gap
- Pensions lifetime allowance is scrapped
- Firms will need to consider Consumer Duty
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What Consumers Want and Why
- Pension ownership and participation
- Most Brits own some form of private pension
- Graph 15: private pension ownership, 2024
- Auto-enrolment continues to boost private pension ownership
- Self-employed consumers lag behind in pension ownership…
- … but there are opportunities to boost participation
- Pension ownership is stable across age groups
- Graph 16: private pension ownership, by age, 2024
- Auto-enrolment is helping narrow the gender pension gap
- Graph 17: private pension ownership, by gender, 2024
- The majority of Brits are regularly contributing to their pension
- Graph 18: consumers currently making pension contributions, 2024
- Value of pension pot
- Over a third of pension holders have less than £30,000 in pension savings
- Graph 19: value of pension pot(s), 2024
- Insufficient pension savings may pose challenges during retirement…
- … but providers still have time to intervene
- One in four pension holders are unsure of pension value
- Non-pension sources of retirement funding
- Brits expect to draw on multiple sources of funding in retirement
- Graph 20: anticipated/current use of non-pension retirement funding sources, 2024
- State pension and benefits are a key source of retirement funding
- Graph 21: non-pension sources of retirement funding, by age, 2024
- Equity release is still seen as a last resort
- Many will expect to lean on inheritence in retirement
- Engagement with retirement planning
- Pension holders engage in limited retirement planning activity
- Graph 22: retirement planning activities in the last 12 months, 2024
- Saving for retirement is given low priority
- Graph 23: savings priorities among those expecting to increase their savings, 2024
- Most consumers set and then forget their pensions
- Opportunities to increase engagement through  pension consolidation
- Attitudes towards retirement planning
- Less than half of Brits are confident about saving enough  for retirement
- Graph 24: attitudes towards retirement planning, 2024
- Providers have opportunities to bridge the knowledge gap
- Appeal to a desire for financial control to tackle the inertia of competing priorities
- Help younger consumers to engage with retirement finances through digital tools
- Brits are seeking more convenient ways to plan for retirement
- Digital solutions could unlock greater retirement planning engagement
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Marketing Trends
- Advertising and marketing activity
- Above-the-line adspend sees sharp decline after a bumper year
- Graph 25: total above-the-line, online display and direct mail advertising expenditure on pensions and retirement planning, 2019-2023
- Standard Life and PensionBee lead on ATL adspend in 2023/24…
- …but most advertisers cut back on expenditure
- ‘Pay Your Pension Some Attention’ is back for its second year
- Standard Life continues to promote pension consolidation in latest TV advert
- DWP teams up with Harry Redknapp to promote Pension Credit deadline day
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Appendix
- Report scope and definitions
- Report definition
- Abbreviations and terms
- Methodology
- Consumer research methodology
- Nielsen Ad Intel coverage
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