Published by Gbaf News
Posted on January 8, 2018
5 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
• Only five days left to respond to the PLSA’s Hitting The Target consultation.
As the New Year gets under way, the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) is reminding all stakeholders that the deadline for responding to its Hitting The Target consultation is 12 January 2018.
With 78% of people aged 18 to 64 years old saying they were not sure or did not know where to look to tell if they were on track with their retirement savings, the PLSA’s Hitting The Target consultation, which launched in October 2017, is designed to help people define and meet their retirement goals1.
One of the proposals is to develop a set of National Retirement Income Targets. PLSA research carried out ahead of the New Year found that setting a realistic target was the most common method (31%) chosen by people to help them achieve their New Year’s resolutions. This was followed by having a clear set of goals (21%), taking the time to focus on what needs to be achieved (15%) and having a clear set by set plan to follow (13%)2.
Nigel Peaple, Deputy Director, PLSA, said:
“Automatic enrolment has seen over 9 million more people enrolled into a pension scheme over the last few years3. Whilst this welcome success has achieved a great deal in starting more people saving towards retirement, we hope that income targets will address one of the key challenges facing savers today – that there is currently no generally understood target for retirement income. Our research has shown that 77% of people do not know how much they need in later life4. It is therefore great to see that so many people find targets and budgets helpful with financial resolutions – it suggests there is a strong basis for income targets working in practice.
“With our research revealing that 40% of respondents are planning to make financial New Year resolutions, we hope that people are considering their pension options5. This is a great opportunity to prepare not only for the year ahead, but for a better income in retirement.”
National Retirement Income Targets – which are currently used in Australia – provide savers with tangible income goals which take into account what they need to save in order to achieve different standards of living in retirement (minimum, modest and comfortable).
As part of the PLSA’s initial research, savers were asked for their views on what levels should be used for the income targets. Those between 55 and 64 years old suggested that for a single person they might be minimum – £10,000 to £15,000, modest – £15,000 to £25,000 and comfortable – more than £25,0006.
• Only five days left to respond to the PLSA’s Hitting The Target consultation.
As the New Year gets under way, the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) is reminding all stakeholders that the deadline for responding to its Hitting The Target consultation is 12 January 2018.
With 78% of people aged 18 to 64 years old saying they were not sure or did not know where to look to tell if they were on track with their retirement savings, the PLSA’s Hitting The Target consultation, which launched in October 2017, is designed to help people define and meet their retirement goals1.
One of the proposals is to develop a set of National Retirement Income Targets. PLSA research carried out ahead of the New Year found that setting a realistic target was the most common method (31%) chosen by people to help them achieve their New Year’s resolutions. This was followed by having a clear set of goals (21%), taking the time to focus on what needs to be achieved (15%) and having a clear set by set plan to follow (13%)2.
Nigel Peaple, Deputy Director, PLSA, said:
“Automatic enrolment has seen over 9 million more people enrolled into a pension scheme over the last few years3. Whilst this welcome success has achieved a great deal in starting more people saving towards retirement, we hope that income targets will address one of the key challenges facing savers today – that there is currently no generally understood target for retirement income. Our research has shown that 77% of people do not know how much they need in later life4. It is therefore great to see that so many people find targets and budgets helpful with financial resolutions – it suggests there is a strong basis for income targets working in practice.
“With our research revealing that 40% of respondents are planning to make financial New Year resolutions, we hope that people are considering their pension options5. This is a great opportunity to prepare not only for the year ahead, but for a better income in retirement.”
National Retirement Income Targets – which are currently used in Australia – provide savers with tangible income goals which take into account what they need to save in order to achieve different standards of living in retirement (minimum, modest and comfortable).
As part of the PLSA’s initial research, savers were asked for their views on what levels should be used for the income targets. Those between 55 and 64 years old suggested that for a single person they might be minimum – £10,000 to £15,000, modest – £15,000 to £25,000 and comfortable – more than £25,0006.
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