The cost of living crisis is taking its toll on the British public. This can be seen in the increasing number of people leaving the NHS Pension Scheme this past year alone due to affordability. Recent research conducted by Quilter in a Freedom of Information request to the NHS Business Services Authority discovered that 53,762 people chose to opt out of the scheme due to its costs.
The current pension landscape can be largely attributed to former Health and Social Care Secretary Jeremy Hunt who initiated an overhaul of the NHS pension scheme. This overhaul included raising annual allowance contributions to £50,000 for high-earning NHS workers and introducing a tapering system for those earning between £110,001 and £150,000.
In light of this reform and the issue of increasing pension costs, people are turning to different alternatives for pensions. Despite the changes, pensions are still a source of major concern for many people, with over 8 million individuals considering themselves at risk of not having enough money to retire on due to being unable to keep up with pension contributions.
In reaction to this problem, Quilter is calling on the government to introduce more pension reform. Their demands include raising the Budget Age Allowance so that people can save more into pensions, introducing financial education into the mainstream curriculum, providing incentives for people to save more and reducing the costs of pensions.
It is time that the government takes notice of these issues and takes action. The people have been struggling to keep up with pension payments, but with stronger government help, this can be greatly alleviated. We need to heed the call of those in the pensions industry, who are urging us to make real changes that will get us back on track to properly prepare for retirement.
We all need to plan for the future and pensions are an important part of that for many people. It is essential that measures are put in place to prevent more taxpayers from falling into debt due to unsustainable pension costs. Let’s not let this crisis continue any further – it is time for change.