As the government rebrands its personal pensions scheme as NEST (National Employment Savings Trust), industry experts are warning savers not to wait for the new workplace pension scheme, which will not be fully operational until 2017.
Pensions experts at the funds management company Hargreaves Lansdown have warned that employees who wait 7 years more for a NEST pension (formerly known as the Personal Accounts Pension Scheme) were losing a considerable part of their eventual retirement income.
“Every year of delay means a lower eventual pension. Don’t wait for your employer or the government to take the intiative, start saving for retirement today,” said Tom McPhail, head of pensions research at Hargreaves Lansdown.
While enrolment of workers into NEST pensions will begin in 2012, it will be rolled out gradually, with the last employees due to be included in 2017.
As the official government occupational pension scheme, NEST consists of an employee contribution of 4% of salary plus an employer contribution of 3% of salary, and a further 1% in tax relief.
