Calls to Action

To address the pensions gap and incentivise higher levels of saving, Aviva calls for:

At a European level

  • The creation of a European Quality Standard for Pensions: allowing providers to demonstrate the quality and security of their products, facilitating comparability and increasing consumer confidence
  • The establishment of a European Pensions Savings Target: variable by country, and calculated as a percentage or GDP and / or by distribution across each pillar. A pensions savings target would encourage national governments to facilitate a greater savings culture in their country and move towards a greater percentage of funded schemes

At a national level

  • The issuing of regular pension statements to all citizens: this would encourage consumers to consider the state pension as only part of a mixed strategy for providing for their future, and prompt them to take action as a result of seeing clearly what they stand to get in retirement
  • A review of national measures to encourage savings: this could consider the effectiveness of existing incentive schemes for pension saving, their impact and visibility and whether they are appropriately targeted at changing the behaviour of the people who need the most encouragement to save