What with all the excitement of the last seven months, the “At Retirement” debate which previously dominated both our thinking and our conversation – in the boardroom, the media and around our kitchen tables – seems to have taken something of a back seat. A shame, because the issues are still to be addressed: The future and “failure” of annuities, the role of blended products, the issue and impact of longevity, the attraction, danger and impact of immediate encashment and so on. The agenda needs to be looked at. The consumer demands and deserves access to the right retirement product and advice within a progressive framework.

But should this be the focus of our attention? Should we concentrate on decumulation when the elephant in the room – our consistent failure to engage consumers with retirement saving – remains largely unaddressed? In my mind a refocus of our collective attention is essential for our long term success.

Our population is ageing. By 2050, apparently, one in four in the UK will be over 65. Of the remaining three persons, those in work will carry the burden not only of supporting themselves but also delivering the tax receipts necessary to fund education, healthcare, welfare and defence et al. If that is the future, how will the state also provide a universal old age pension? My belief is that it cannot. We enter a new age of personal responsibility.

Our view of retirement is built on the experience of our forebears: those generations lucky enough to have lived and worked during the era of defined benefits, an era in its death throes, a victim of merciless reality. Our experience will be different. Without care, frighteningly so.

We don’t save enough for the long term. It’s an endemic problem, habitual and cultural. Unless we address this properly, unless we concentrate on how to fill our retirement “pots” rather than how we will use the money we presume we will have set aside, it will have huge ramifications for us all.

The generation of retirement savings must be our collective focus, our success dependent on our ability to create the right environment for accumulation; one that engages, educates and motivates.

The industry must win back the respect and attention of its customers: remembering whose money it looks after and to what end; that profitability isn’t the sole measure of success; that trust is the licence by which we operate. It must redefine customer experience and what that means, clearly communicating value and vision rather than simply product and performance.

We must tell the truth about retirement. That auto-enrolment is a starting point and nothing more, that both the employed and self-employed need to view retirement saving as a financial priority.

The process of saving must be simpler and more accessible. Consumers need to be able to easily identify pensions as the best “retirement specific” option available; Legislative tinkering needs to cease, tax relief needs to stay and confusing conversations (such as ISA’s vs. pensions) have to stop. The savings path to retirement needs to be clear, positive and attractive.

Whilst welcome and necessary, “robo-advice” and “direct to consumer” offerings on their own are not the solution as financial products are rarely bought and often sold. Consumers must have access to accumulation advice easily available in a manner both affordable and palatable.

But motivation works both ways.

Providers and advisers must be allowed to be transparently and equitably profitable within the accumulation arena, charging and servicing both entry level consumers and beyond in a manner that encourages their active participation.

The creation of a new culture of saving must be our collective endeavour; the long term success of our society depends on it, with each taking responsibility for our financial wellbeing. But for that to be successful, the environment within which we operate needs to change. Radically.

GC January 2017