Employees 'more responsible for their pensions'

Employees are now more responsible than they have ever been for their pensions, an expert has said.

Technical director at the Pensions Advisory Service (TPS) Des Hamilton said: "The responsibility for their pensions is with the employee."

Nevertheless, Mr Hamilton also said that just because employees are more responsible, it does not mean they are fully in control of their pensions.

He mentioned that there was evidence that occupational pension schemes were in decline and that "there is still a crisis of confidence from employees in relation to [them]".

Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that membership of occupational pension schemes had fallen by half a million between 2004 and 2006.

The body also said that the number of active employees who were part of schemes had fallen by 0.2 million during the same period.

Mr Hamilton explained his statement regarding responsibility by saying: "What the employer is effectively saying is: 'I'll contribute x per cent of your salary but after that I want as little involvement as possible'."

Source: Adfero

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