Pension Awareness 2026: turning awareness into action

Pension Awareness returns on 15 and 16 September 2026, bringing a national focus to pensions and retirement planning.

The campaign aims to improve understanding of pensions and encourage people to take greater control of their financial future. For employers, it presents a valuable opportunity to engage employees with their pension savings.

Why does Pension Awareness matter?

The recently published interim report of the Second Pension Commission highlighted a concerning challenge: around four in ten working-age people are projected to reach retirement with insufficient pension savings.

The Commission noted that the three pillars identified by the First Pension Commission continue to play an important role in supporting retirement outcomes:

• The State Pension is broadly delivering the proportion of earnings originally envisaged.
• Automatic enrolment (AE) has successfully increased participation in pension saving, although age and earnings eligibility criteria mean some groups remain excluded.
• Voluntary saving hasn't developed as expected, leaving many people with little pension provision beyond minimum AE contributions.

The Commission's final report isn't due until spring 2027. It seems likely that recommendations will include changes to AE eligibility criteria, income thresholds and minimum contribution levels.

However, any reforms are unlikely to happen quickly. In the meantime, the longer individuals delay action, the more difficult it becomes to address gaps in retirement savings.

An opportunity for employers

Pension Awareness provides an opportunity to start conversations about retirement planning and encourage employees to engage with their pensions.

With pensions often competing for attention against more immediate financial priorities, a nationally recognised campaign can help bring retirement saving into focus. It can help encourage employees to take important steps, whether that's checking contributions, updating beneficiary nominations or reviewing their retirement plans.

Employers could consider:

• Using the free resources available through the Pension Awareness campaign, including promotional materials, live events and educational articles.
• Sharing guidance on topics such as obtaining a State Pension forecast or tracing lost pension savings.
• Speaking with their pension provider about webinars, tools and communications that can be shared with employees.
• Identifying employee groups who may benefit from additional support.

The additional visibility generated by Pension Awareness can help reinforce existing engagement activity and encourage employees to take positive action towards improving their retirement outcomes.

Turning awareness into action

Pension Awareness may only last two days, but it can spark meaningful conversations and positive action. With concerns about retirement adequacy continuing to grow, employers have an opportunity to use the campaign to encourage greater engagement with pension saving and help employees make informed decisions about their future.

Understanding whether employees are on track for the retirement outcomes they want isn't always straightforward. Identifying groups at risk of under-saving and providing targeted support can make a meaningful difference to long-term financial wellbeing and retirement outcomes.

If you'd like to discuss how we can support your organisation, please get in touch.