Pension Board advises saving
The Pensions Board has launched a new campaign to encourage those who haven’t got a pension plan to start contributing to one.
National Pensions Action Week, which has just ended, focused on urging people to start saving cash for retirement and focussed on the key age targets of 25-39.
It included on-the-street promotional activity, outdoor, ambient and online advertising, national print advertising, regional and national radio and TV advertising.
A recent Pensions Board survey revealed that for those who do not contribute to a pension, the main reasons given for not doing so were; too young yet (20%), can’t afford it/too expensive (21%), and not interested in pensions (12%).
A worrying statistic shows that four out of five people surveyed said that the State old age contributory pension of €193.30 would not meet their needs in retirement.
Pensions Action Week will also focus on the issue of women and pensions, as the female population has traditionally lower pension coverage than the male population in Ireland.
“With nearly half the Irish workforce not having any pension cover it is time for people to stop putting it off and start funding a pension,” said Anne Maher, chief executive of the Pensions Board.
“Our advice is to talk to your employer, pick up the phone to a provider, talk to a parent or friend if required, or check out our online pension calculator,” she added.
The 2006 Finance Act provides a special incentive to the lower paid to invest all or part of their SSIA proceeds after maturity into an approved pension product.
