{"id":25347,"date":"2023-10-12T10:31:06","date_gmt":"2023-10-12T09:31:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smh.group\/?p=25347"},"modified":"2023-10-12T10:31:06","modified_gmt":"2023-10-12T09:31:06","slug":"the-case-for-increasing-pension-contributions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/the-case-for-increasing-pension-contributions\/","title":{"rendered":"The case for increasing pension contributions"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new think tank report highlights the need to increase pension contributions. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Over time, good ideas start to age. Take, for example, automatic enrolment into workplace pensions, which is now eleven years old. <\/strong>In some respects, it has been highly successful \u2013 about 80% of employees are now benefiting from pension contributions compared with 46% in 2011. However, other aspects of the legislation have started to look outdated after more than a decade.<\/p>\n

Since April 2019, the mandatory minimum level of contributions has been 8% of band earnings (those between \u00a36,240 and \u00a350,270 in 2023\/24). Of that 8%, the employer must pay at least 3%, with the employee picking up the balance. Those percentages were legislated for in 2008, almost another era in financial terms. Were automatic enrolment being designed today, the minimum contribution rate would be considerably higher.<\/p>\n

A report in September from the capital markets focused think tank New Financial neatly summarises the problem with 8%. It says, \u201c\u2026 contributions are not high enough to ensure a comfortable retirement for the majority of people in the UK.\u201d The report finds that in many other countries, minimum contribution rates are higher. Both Denmark and Sweden have a minimum of 15%, while Australia and Ireland are moving their contribution rates to 12%. As well as higher contributions, an international comparison reveals that in all other markets, employers pay more than employees (and in Australia employers pay the entire minimum contribution).<\/p>\n

In the short term, the chances of the UK modernising its mandatory pension structure are limited. At the time of writing, there is a private member\u2019s bill \u2013 not a government bill \u2013 going through parliament that opens the way to higher contributions by making the 8% apply to all<\/em> earnings up to \u00a350,270. The backdrop of a cost of living crisis and an impending general election do not provide the conditions in which the government \u2013 or opposition \u2013 would want to call for higher pension contributions.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, the issue will not disappear. As the report says, \u201cThe biggest single lever that can be pulled to increase the value of a future pension is the contributions paid into it over time.\u201d<\/p>\n

And you do not have to wait for the government, of whichever variety, to pull that lever.<\/p>\n

To discuss your financial planning, contact our\u00a0Sheffield based Financial Advisers<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0on\u00a00114 266 4432<\/strong>\u00a0or\u00a0info@smh.group<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The value of your investment and any income from it can go down as well as up and you may not get back the full amount you invested. <\/em><\/h6>\n
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. <\/em><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new think tank report highlights the need to increase pension contributions. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":25349,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[77,1067,245,555,1066,247,1065,1068,1064],"class_list":["post-25347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-financial-services","tag-financial-planning","tag-financial-report","tag-pension-contributions","tag-personal-finance","tag-retirement-fund","tag-retirement-planning","tag-retirement-savings","tag-retirement-security","tag-think-tank-report"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe case for increasing pension contributions - SMH Group<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A new think tank report highlights the need to increase pension contributions.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The case for increasing pension contributions - SMH Group\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A new think tank report highlights the need to increase pension contributions.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/the-case-for-increasing-pension-contributions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SMH Group\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-10-12T09:31:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/pexels-craig-dennis-128428-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1980\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1320\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brendan Hall\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brendan Hall\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/the-case-for-increasing-pension-contributions\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/the-case-for-increasing-pension-contributions\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Brendan Hall\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/#\/schema\/person\/637129b7464f960037f1b676f625570e\"},\"headline\":\"The case for increasing pension contributions\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-12T09:31:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/the-case-for-increasing-pension-contributions\/\"},\"wordCount\":418,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/the-case-for-increasing-pension-contributions\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/pexels-craig-dennis-128428-scaled.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"financial planning\",\"Financial Report\",\"pension contributions\",\"personal finance\",\"Retirement Fund\",\"retirement planning\",\"Retirement Savings\",\"Retirement Security\",\"Think Tank Report\"],\"articleSection\":[\"SMH Financial Services\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/the-case-for-increasing-pension-contributions\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/the-case-for-increasing-pension-contributions\/\",\"name\":\"The case for increasing pension contributions - SMH Group\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/the-case-for-increasing-pension-contributions\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/the-case-for-increasing-pension-contributions\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/pexels-craig-dennis-128428-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-12T09:31:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/#\/schema\/person\/637129b7464f960037f1b676f625570e\"},\"description\":\"A new think tank report highlights the need to increase pension contributions.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/the-case-for-increasing-pension-contributions\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/the-case-for-increasing-pension-contributions\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/the-case-for-increasing-pension-contributions\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/pexels-craig-dennis-128428-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/pexels-craig-dennis-128428-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":1980,\"height\":1320},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/the-case-for-increasing-pension-contributions\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The case for increasing pension contributions\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/\",\"name\":\"SMH Group\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/#\/schema\/person\/637129b7464f960037f1b676f625570e\",\"name\":\"Brendan Hall\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fe3e3bb96786e02b14d97d1c006fde60e4080a2841fd919bafa62c4cc1c65688?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fe3e3bb96786e02b14d97d1c006fde60e4080a2841fd919bafa62c4cc1c65688?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Brendan Hall\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/author\/brendan-hall\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The case for increasing pension contributions - SMH Group","description":"A new think tank report highlights the need to increase pension contributions.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"The case for increasing pension contributions - SMH Group","og_description":"A new think tank report highlights the need to increase pension contributions.","og_url":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/the-case-for-increasing-pension-contributions\/","og_site_name":"SMH Group","article_published_time":"2023-10-12T09:31:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1980,"height":1320,"url":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/pexels-craig-dennis-128428-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Brendan Hall","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Brendan Hall","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/the-case-for-increasing-pension-contributions\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/the-case-for-increasing-pension-contributions\/"},"author":{"name":"Brendan Hall","@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/#\/schema\/person\/637129b7464f960037f1b676f625570e"},"headline":"The case for increasing pension contributions","datePublished":"2023-10-12T09:31:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/the-case-for-increasing-pension-contributions\/"},"wordCount":418,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/the-case-for-increasing-pension-contributions\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/pexels-craig-dennis-128428-scaled.jpg","keywords":["financial planning","Financial Report","pension contributions","personal finance","Retirement Fund","retirement planning","Retirement Savings","Retirement Security","Think Tank Report"],"articleSection":["SMH Financial Services"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/the-case-for-increasing-pension-contributions\/","url":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/the-case-for-increasing-pension-contributions\/","name":"The case for increasing pension contributions - SMH Group","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/the-case-for-increasing-pension-contributions\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/the-case-for-increasing-pension-contributions\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/pexels-craig-dennis-128428-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2023-10-12T09:31:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/#\/schema\/person\/637129b7464f960037f1b676f625570e"},"description":"A new think tank report highlights the need to increase pension contributions.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/the-case-for-increasing-pension-contributions\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/the-case-for-increasing-pension-contributions\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/the-case-for-increasing-pension-contributions\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/pexels-craig-dennis-128428-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/pexels-craig-dennis-128428-scaled.jpg","width":1980,"height":1320},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/the-case-for-increasing-pension-contributions\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The case for increasing pension contributions"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/#website","url":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/","name":"SMH Group","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/#\/schema\/person\/637129b7464f960037f1b676f625570e","name":"Brendan Hall","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fe3e3bb96786e02b14d97d1c006fde60e4080a2841fd919bafa62c4cc1c65688?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fe3e3bb96786e02b14d97d1c006fde60e4080a2841fd919bafa62c4cc1c65688?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Brendan Hall"},"url":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/author\/brendan-hall\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25347"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25347\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25354,"href":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25347\/revisions\/25354"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}