Solving the UK’s looming pensions crisis has to be a top priority for 2005, according to the director general of the Institute of Directors (IoD).
In a New Year message to the institute’s 55,000 members, Miles Templeman said it was vital that employers, employees and the Government work together to get to grips with the problem.
For its part, the IoD has announced a major consultation exercise with its members, seeking views and opinions from grass roots UK businesses. The results will be published later in the year.
Templeman said: “Pensions are now high on everyone’s lists of concerns.
“The issue is clearly complex and finding a solution will be a long haul, but the IoD is keen to take a lead through consultation and dialogue.
“The starting point for any reform of pensions policy has to be simplification. The current system is hideously complicated and must be made transparent and comprehensible to everyone.”
Central to any solution, the IoD argues, are longer working lives, greater levels of saving and a higher state pension.
“Ultimately, we need to see a savings renaissance in the UK. The Government does have an important role to play, but ultimately it is a matter of individual choice,” Templeman said.
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