One in six (16%) people with a private pension who have experienced a major life event have increased their pension contributions as a result, says Standard Life.
Becoming self-employed is the strongest positive trigger, with almost a fifth (18%) increasing their contributions, while 11% boosted contributions after having children.
Other moments that prompted an increase include taking a career break (7%), moving up the property ladder (6%) and separating from a spouse (6%).
However, Standard Life said life changes can also pull pension saving in the other direction, with 37% admitting to reducing, pausing or stopping contributions following a major life event. This rises to 45% following a career break, 44% after redundancy, 33% after becoming self-employed and 21% following children.
The retirement specialist said many people also rely on these important moments to prompt them to check in on their pension altogether, with one in five (19%) stating they only review their pension following a major life event or financial changes.
Among those who don’t review regularly, almost a fifth (17%) say they simply don’t think about their pension unless something changes, while 15% don’t know where to start and 14% don’t think they need to think about their pension at all.
Emma Furlonger, managing director for workplace and retail intermediary at Standard Life, said: “Starting a family, becoming self-employed or seeing our circumstances change can naturally prompt us to think about what we’re putting away for the future, and it’s really positive to see that these moments are leading many people to increase their pension contributions as a result.
“Everyone’s journey to and through retirement is different, so there will inevitably be times when people can afford to save more and other times when they need to pull back. The important thing is that changes to pension saving are considered decisions, rather than knee-jerk reactions to what’s happening in life – and this is where regular pension engagement really matters. A major life event can be a helpful reminder to check in, but it shouldn’t take one to get us thinking about our retirement savings.”
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