Yet Another Retirement Survey… And Guess What? It’s All About Pensions (Again)

Ah, another day, another industry survey with a predictably one-sided take on retirement planning. This time, it’s Unbiased, the financial adviser lead generator, chiming in with their latest findings. And surprise, surprise—they’ve got pensions on the brain. According to their research, 57% of UK adults aren't on track for “retirement readiness,” whatever that means. Naturally, the solution to this looming crisis? More pensions, of course!

Now, let’s take a moment to acknowledge the real issue here. Is the average UK adult struggling to save enough? Sure, that’s a legitimate concern in today’s world of rising living costs and economic uncertainty. But here’s where things take a convenient turn—Unbiased’s answer to this rather complex problem is, wait for it, a pension pot! Because obviously, the only way to ensure your retirement is secure is to shovel more money into a pension. Nothing else matters, right? Skills, health, energy, know-how—irrelevant! Your worth boils down to the size of your pension fund.

Karen Barrett, CEO and founder of Unbiased, waxes lyrical about how essential it is to “prepare for retirement.” Fair enough. But her pitch quickly turns into a thinly veiled advertisement for financial advisers: “Speaking with a professional can help cut through the jargon and give you the confidence to make the right decision for your future.” Translation: Let’s turn that vague fear into a tidy pension sale, shall we? After all, nothing generates leads for pension salesmen like a survey that stokes a bit of panic.

Yet, there’s a glaring omission from this narrative: human capital. You know, that intangible stuff—skills, connections, character, health—that actually keeps you productive, even in retirement. But no, we’re supposed to believe that retirement equals sitting around, living off whatever’s in your pension pot, because God forbid anyone remain useful beyond 65.

The idea that productivity, creativity, and even earning potential could continue into retirement? Well, that just doesn’t sell pensions, does it? If we considered how older adults could keep using their skills, their experience, and their connections to generate income, we’d have a whole different conversation about retirement readiness. One that doesn’t involve panicking about how much we’ve squirreled away in a fund.

And let’s talk about those survey results for a moment. Apparently, 75% of working adults with a pension pot don’t even know its estimated value. Shocking? Not really. If most people don’t even know how much they’ve got in their pot, maybe—just maybe—the pension pot isn’t the end-all solution we’re being sold.

So here we are again, being fed the same tired message: save, save, save, or else face a grim and penniless old age. Meanwhile, there’s no mention of building and maintaining human capital—those very real assets we possess, like skills, health, and energy, which are just as critical (if not more so) than any pension fund.

It’s time we started talking about retirement differently. Yes, a pension helps, but it’s not the only answer. Productivity doesn’t have to stop just because you’ve hit 65. Maybe, instead of fixating on pension pots, we should focus on staying healthy, keeping our skills sharp, and remaining connected to the world around us. But then again, that wouldn’t generate leads, would it?