Financial Wellbeing - First Actuarial

Improve wellbeing with our Financial MOT tool

Katalin Felso — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 12:58:33 +0000

Improve wellbeing with our Financial MOT tool

Home Our services Financial wellbeing Improve wellbeing with our Financial MOT tool

Financial wellbeing is good for us all

It feels great to be in control of personal finance, doesn’t it?

There’s a growing appreciation that financial wellbeing across the workplace helps employers too. Employee benefits that promote financial wellbeing can improve:

Recruitment – Helping attract new people
Retention – Making people feel cared for
Morale – Reducing staff absence.

Our Financial MOT tool is for organisations that want to help their people feel more in control of their personal finances. Whether they’re struggling with money worries or just want to improve the way they manage money, the Financial MOT can help.

The Financial MOT is a low-cost online tool that will ask each participant simple questions about debt, budgeting and other areas of personal finance. It will then give them a personalised action plan highlighting priority areas for them to focus on.

And as you would with a car, we recommend taking an annual Financial MOT to support the fact that finances change over time. So this tool can become part of your regular financial wellbeing practice.

Watch our video to see our Financial MOT in action

How does our Financial MOT work?

This is how our Financial MOT tool provides simple financial wellbeing support:

Step 1 – Select a generic or a bespoke Financial MOT

You can choose between two versions of the tool:

A generic Financial MOT – Providing financial wellbeing support based on the answers they provide and publicly available tools and information.
A bespoke Financial MOT – Providing the same financial wellbeing support while allowing employers to include elements of the benefits package they provide.

Step 2 – Invite your people to get a Financial MOT

We will then send you a link, an employer code and a user video for you to send out to your workforce, inviting them to take a Financial MOT, and explaining how it will help them carry out a mini assessment of their finances.

Step 3 – Leave it to your people to use the tool

Each participant will be asked 12 simple questions on different areas of personal finances, such as day-to-day spending, debt and planning for the future. It should take them no more than five minutes to complete.

When they’ve finished, the tool will produce a personalised action plan for them to take away and work through.

The action plan will highlight the areas of their finances that they might like to focus on. It will include links to relevant resources and sources of support, plus tips to help them take control of their money and improve their financial wellbeing.

Step 4 – Receive an annual update of insights

As part of our Financial MOT service, we’ll give you annual updates. Based on responses to the MOT questions, the updates will give you clear insights into the financial issues your people are grappling with. We can then help you to work out the best ways to support them.

Step 5 – Share our annual Financial MOT webinar

Once a year we’ll review all Financial MOT responses and deliver a webinar on a relevant topic. You can share this with your people to demonstrate your sensitivity to their financial issues and to help tackle them.

What insights can you uncover with our Financial MOT tool?

Download our latest report to see anonymous responses of Financial MOT users. Discover what you can learn about your own workforce through our tool.

Read now

It makes sense for people to put their finances through a regular MOT, just like they would with their car. After all, our finances are changing all the time, so the help they need is likely to change. For that reason, we recommend that you see the Financial MOT tool as an annual process, rather than a one-off project.

And if you feel your people would benefit from further financial support, we would be happy to help.

Why First Actuarial?

At First Actuarial, we understand that organisations want their workforce to be happy and productive. We set up our financial wellbeing team over a decade ago to deliver pioneering financial wellbeing services in the workplace.

We’ve worked with a variety of organisations, from FTSE100 businesses to housing associations and trade unions.

Our financial wellbeing consultants understand money and how to crunch numbers. And with superb communication skills, they can explain complex financial matters clearly to anyone, cutting out the jargon and stigma surrounding personal finances.

What can your organisation do next?

If your organisation would like to find out more about our Financial MOT, get in touch with our financial wellbeing team.

I’d like to explore the Financial MOT

First Actuarial consultants bring finance to life with useful information and practical tools. They’re easy to work with, and people trust them. You trust that what they’re saying is right and that makes you listen. You get the sense of being in safe hands. And there’s no pomp and ceremony with First Actuarial. They offer solid information and let people make their own decisions. And I think that’s what people like.

– Julie Cridland, Employee Experience Lead, Aster Group

Find out more about our Financial MOT tool

Download our Financial MOT flyer.

The post Improve wellbeing with our Financial MOT tool first appeared on First Actuarial.

Covid-19 Webinar

Dean_Timms — Thu, 01 Dec 2022 16:29:09 +0000

Covid-19 Webinar

Download our eGuide for employees

Covid-19 and you money

Find out more about our financial wellbeing services

Download our financial wellbeing brochure.

The post Covid-19 Webinar first appeared on First Actuarial.

Covid-19 and your employees – A webinar for personal and financial wellbeing

Dean_Timms — Thu, 01 Dec 2022 15:41:10 +0000

Covid-19 and your employees – A webinar for personal and financial wellbeing

It has never been harder to safeguard employee wellbeing

First Actuarial, a leading provider of financial wellbeing services in the workplace, is here to help. We are offering a Covid-19 wellbeing webinar recording, available to all UK employers and their staff, free of charge.

To help your employees manage their personal finances and mental health, it offers top tips for managing money and points to personal wellbeing guidance from leading mental health organisations.

Our webinar will help you support your staff during this unsettling period:

Updating the household budget

Staying at home means savings in areas such as travel, but what are the additional costs of the pandemic? Help your employees with household budgeting – and make sure they don’t miss out on benefits, allowances and refunds – with our up-to-date tips.

Managing pensions and savings

Many people are worried about their future security and struggle to make financial decisions in such volatile market conditions. We offer clear information on savings, investments and pensions, inMany people are worried about their future security and struggle to make financial decisions in such volatile market conditions. We offer clear information on savings, investments and pensions, including a personal finance action plan, from our experts.cluding a personal finance action plan, from our experts.

Coping with financial difficulty

Financial problems are doubly stressful in uncertain times, and services such as Citizens Advice may be harder to access. We offer step-by-step information, guidance and options fFinancial problems are doubly stressful in uncertain times, and services such as Citizens Advice may be harder to access. We offer step-by-step information, guidance and options for employees who are struggling to make ends meet.or employees who are struggling to make ends meet.

Managing physical and mental health

It can be hard to manage feelings of loneliness, anxiety and sadness without social contact. Even your strongest employees may be affected. We offer tips for managing physical health, a practical guide to home working, and pointers to sources on mental wellbeing.

Avoiding money scams

Scammers thrive on uncertainty, so make sure your employees don’t fall prey to crimes that can rob them of their hard-earned savings. We highlight the tell-tale signs of financial scams to help your employees spot these criminals before it’s too late.

Register below for the FREE webinar

We are making our Covid-19 wellbeing webinar freely available to all UK employers. It is around 35 minutes long. Register for the webinar today to receive access to the recording.

If you think it might help your staff, we will also help you quickly and easily generate an email to them, introducing the webinar and inviting them to watch it.

Please provide the following information to access the webinar:

[contact-form-7]

Contact us to find out more about other ways we can help

We can also create a bespoke presentation tailored to your organisation’s benefits, and allowing time for questions and webchat. Our specialists can build in specific information in areas such as your company pension schemes and even employee share schemes.

To discuss this or explore our other financial wellbeing services, contact:

Catherine Lockyer

0161 348 7443

07429 170 945

catherine.lockyer@firstactuarial.co.uk

Zoȅ Sadler

01256 297 755

zoe.sadler@firstactuarial.co.uk

Why First Actuarial?

First Actuarial is a leading provider of financial wellbeing services to UK employers. Our business also includes actuarial and consultancy services to UK pension schemes.

As actuaries, we understand money and how to crunch numbers. And as consultants, we’re great communicators. This blend of skills makes us ideally placed to help you foster financial and personal wellbeing in these challenging times.

Employers value our independent perspective and objective guidance. We do not sell financial products or services. We put the interests of employers and staff at the centre of everything we do.

Find out more about financial wellbeing

Find out more about our financial wellbeing services

Download our financial wellbeing brochure.

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Financial wellbeing and the cost of living crisis

Sarah Bartlett — Thu, 01 Dec 2022 08:53:05 +0000

Financial wellbeing and the cost of living crisis

Home Our services Financial wellbeing Financial wellbeing and the cost of living crisis

To help you and your colleagues manage your money during the cost of living crisis, our financial wellbeing team has put together a package of useful resources:

A video with tips on how to cope in a world of rising costs, focusing on key areas where you can save money including energy and household spending
A list of supportive organisations and useful websites
A downloadable action plan to put you in control of your money, step by step.

Get into good financial habits at this important time – with some great money management tips.

Tips for managing your money during the cost of living crisis

This 20-minute video will help you manage your finances by taking you through three areas:

How to reduce your energy bills – tips for reducing usage, plus government help for both working and non-working households
Tips on managing your money to make it stretch a bit further – covering essentials such as food, insurance, car fuel, as well as other non-essential costs
Where to go to get help if you’re struggling to make ends meet – websites offering more tips and organisations that can offer support.

Where to go for further help and support

How to reduce energy bills

Your provider’s website is likely to offer useful tips on reducing energy bills. Also, try these sites:

Energy Saving Trust
Citizens Advice
National Energy Action
Which
Uswitch
Go.Compare energy cost calculator

Get in touch for personalised support

Support your colleagues through the cost of living crisis.

Get in touch for a bespoke video or action plan for your workforce, covering pensions and other benefits.

Pension one-to-ones are valuable not just for those approaching retirement but for younger people as well. By fine-tuning their pensions at that stage, they can retire earlier. Planning ahead can mean the difference between travelling the world and relying on food banks.

– Julie Cridland, Employee Experience Lead, Aster Group

Find out more about our financial wellbeing services

Download our financial wellbeing brochure.

The post Financial wellbeing and the cost of living crisis first appeared on First Actuarial.

Pension awareness

Katalin Felso — Mon, 14 Nov 2022 11:13:34 +0000

How pension aware are you?

Home Our services Financial wellbeing

Pension Awareness Week will take place from 14-18 September 2026

We are proud to be a supporter of Pension Geeks’ Pension Awareness 2026 campaign.

Many people have a very limited understanding of their pensions. This makes it hard for them to plan their long-term finances. They may not know where to start when thinking about whether their pensions will be enough to live on. Worse still, they may be vulnerable to pension scammers ready to strip them of their retirement savings.

How pension aware are you and your people?

Watch our Pension Awareness video for more help on pension planning

Our five questions will reveal how pension aware you are. Try them for yourself…

Question 1 – Do you know where all your pensions are?

These days it’s rare for someone to spend their entire working life with one employer. Most of us work for a series of employers during our working life and build up several pensions.

When you change jobs, those old pensions don’t disappear. But it’s so easy to lose track – it’s quite common for people to lose their pensions because they don’t keep in touch with their old schemes.

There are lots of things you can do to make sure you keep in touch with your old pensions:

Keep all those letters and emails that you receive about your pension. Store them all in one place so you can refer back to them in the future
Notify all your past pension providers whenever you move house
Track down any old pensions you may have lost touch with using the GOV.UK Find pension contact details service.

Question 2 – Do you know what type of pension(s) you’ve got?

There are two main types of pension in the UK:

Defined Contribution (DC) pensions
Defined Benefit (DB) pensions.

Most employers in the UK today provide DC pensions. However, you may be building up a DB pension if you work for a public service, or for one of the decreasing number of private sector employers that still offer them.

What is a DC pension?

With a DC pension, you grow your own retirement savings pot. You and your employer can pay into it and the money is invested on your behalf. Together, your contributions and investment returns will build up in a pot that you can use to give you a retirement income.

You can usually choose how your pension pot is invested. Or you can rely on the default choice that the scheme has made for you. Just as the value of investments can go up and down over time, so can a retirement savings pot. But over the long term, it will hopefully grow to give you a sum of money that’s big enough to provide the retirement income you need.

What is a DB pension?

A DB pension builds up a regular income that will be paid to you throughout your retirement, until you die. The amount of pension you receive will depend on your salary while you were in the scheme and the number of years you spent building it up.

Once you leave an employer, you can no longer build up that particular pension. However, it will usually grow in line with inflation (subject to limits) before it is paid to you, and may also increase each year after you retire.

If you live to a very old age, you’ll get great value from a DB pension. The guarantee that you will receive your pension for the rest of your life can be very valuable.

If you don’t know whether your pensions are DB or DC, you can always ask your current or previous employer, or contact the pension scheme directly. They can provide you with a statement of your benefits.

Question 3 – How much State Pension will you receive?

For the year beginning in April 2026, the new full State Pension is around £12,500 per year.

You earn your State Pension by building up qualifying years on your National Insurance (NI) record. One way to add a qualifying year is to pay NI contributions on your earnings. You can also build up qualifying years in other ways, for example if you receive certain state benefits.

To qualify for a State Pension, you need at least 10 qualifying years on your NI record. And to get the new full State Pension, you need at least 35 qualifying years.

The good news is that as long as you’ve earned enough to pay some NI in a given tax year, you’ll have built up some State Pension.

The State Pension age is currently 66, but it varies depending on when you were born. It’s currently 68 for anyone born after 6 April 1978. This may change in future.

You can get a State Pension forecast and details of how you might be able to increase it from GOV.UK’s Check your State Pension forecast service. This will also tell you what your State Pension age is.

Question 4 – How much money will you need to stop work?

It’s hard to work out how much pension savings you’ll need to stop work. That’s mainly because it might be a long way into the future. It can also be hard to imagine your life in retirement and how much money you’ll need.

However, it’s a good idea to think about this now. Having a target for your pension saving can help you feel more in control of your future, even if stopping work is a long way off for you.

There are different ways to approach this:

Plan for the necessities

Start by noting down everything you might need to spend your money on once you’ve retired. To help with this, you can find a useful tool on the Money Helper website. This tool will remind you to include everything from TV licence fees and insurance to Christmas presents.

Decide on the retirement lifestyle you want

There’s more to life than necessities. Think about how much extra money you’ll need for the retirement lifestyle you’d really like. Pensions UK has defined three levels of retirement lifestyle. Take a look at Pensions UK’s retirement living standards.

Work out what proportion of your salary you’ll need

A useful approach is to work out the percentage of your current salary that you’ll need in retirement. MoneyHelper suggests these salary percentages as retirement income:

Salary range (per year)	Percentage of salary needed in retirement
Up to £12,199	80%
£12,200 to £22,399	70%
£22,400 to £31,999	67%
£32,000 to £51,299	60%
£51,300 and above	50%

Based on research by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), 2024

Question 5 – Are you on track for retirement?

It’s great to know where all your pensions are and how much money you might need, but how do you make sure your pension savings are on track for the retirement you want?

Your pension schemes can help you to understand what each one might provide for you when you reach retirement age.

Ask each of your pension schemes for a pension statement or forecast
Find out whether the scheme offers online tools that you can use to predict your retirement income

When you’ve gathered information for all your pension schemes, add them together – along with your State Pension forecast. Compare the total with your target. This will help you see whether you’re on track. If you’re not on track, then you may need to think about saving a bit more in the future, or perhaps changing your retirement plans and working a little longer.

MoneyHelper’s Pension calculator can help bring all your pension information together. It will also show you the effect of paying a bit more into your pension.

What can individuals do next?

Pensions are complicated, even for financial experts. If you’re still unsure of the answers to any of these questions, ask your employer, pension scheme trustees or trade union for more pension information. Or get free and impartial help from MoneyHelper.

What can organisations do next?

First Actuarial can help you improve financial wellbeing across your workforce with our financial wellbeing programmes. We work with individuals to help them make sense of their money and their pensions, so they can plan for a comfortable and worry-free retirement.

I’d like help with financial wellbeing

Am I vulnerable to pension scammers?

Your pension savings are held securely and will only become vulnerable if you’re approached by a scammer.
The scammer will present you with an ‘opportunity’ that may involve:

Releasing money from your pension quickly with the promise of an attractive return, or
Transferring your pension to somewhere else, with the claim that this will give you more money in retirement.

As soon as they have your money, they’ll vanish without trace, and it will be almost impossible to get your money back.

The good news is that pension scammers cannot get hold of your money without your active involvement.

Watch our short video to learn how to spot a pension scammer.

Without a shadow of a doubt, people now have a better understanding of finance and their pensions. After attending a webinar or a one-to-one, people are much better informed. First Actuarial provides guidance that we wouldn’t be able to give. They’re experts in their field.

– Julie Cridland, Employee Experience Lead, Aster Group

Find out more about our financial wellbeing services

Download our financial wellbeing brochure.

Find out more about pension awareness

Download our pension awareness flyer

The post Pension awareness first appeared on First Actuarial.

Our building blocks

Sarah Bartlett — Mon, 14 Nov 2022 09:46:20 +0000

Our building blocks

Home Our services Financial wellbeing Our building blocks

Putting together a wellbeing programme using our building blocks

Whether you’re looking to help your staff through a period of change – such as alterations to your pension scheme – or putting in place ongoing financial wellbeing education, we offer a bespoke programme of learning modules. We deliver our programmes through a number of our wellbeing building blocks, carefully selected to meet your employees’ needs at a price within your budget.

Comms

Booking system

Helplines

Modellers

Videos

Online portal

Website

Web chat

Webinars

One-to-one sessions

Workshops

Surgeries

Comms

Talking about complex issues like debt or pensions is hard. Only with deep knowledge and experience can these issues be simplified. All our consultants have the in-depth financial understanding needed, due to their background in pensions. They’ve all spent time in front of employees with varying learning styles, and know how best to explain financial issues to anyone – from a shelf-stacker to a research scientist. We’ll communicate financial wellbeing in the best way to get your message across to employees and share understanding.

Booking system

We’ve developed our online booking system to make it easy to schedule wellbeing sessions, even when large numbers of employees and multiple sites are involved. It makes more effective use of everyone’s time, and reduces the likelihood of double bookings or misunderstandings. It also keeps your costs under control, by making it easier for us see more people with fewer consultants. With one-to-one sessions, key documents can be uploaded to make the session more informed.

Helplines

We can run a dedicated financial wellbeing helpline for people to discuss their financial matters with an experienced financial wellbeing consultant.

Modellers

Modellers are an effective way of showing members what the future might look like. They can help answer questions like ‘How much retirement income can I expect to have?’ or ‘How much pension will I have under the new scheme?’. Our modellers are simple and intuitive, and respond well to ‘what-if’ questions. They can also bring announcements and numbers to life.

Videos

Videos are an effective way of delivering information about financial wellbeing. They’re great for giving everyone a basic understanding of certain topics. Our clients also find them a useful way of answering the questions employees frequently ask.

Online portal

A First Actuarial web portal is a simpler, more affordable alternative to a website. It gives members access to a range of financial wellbeing materials, with a secure login to safeguard privacy and provide personalised information.

Website

We can develop a bespoke, financial wellbeing website for your organisation. We can help you design suitable content, or you can brief us on your precise requirements.

Web chat

We can run standalone web chat sessions, but they’re especially popular when they form a one-to-one add-on to a webinar. They give your staff the chance to ‘chat live’ with one of our financial wellbeing consultants. This provides a more cost-efficient option than face-to-face alternatives, while giving your staff the one-to-one support they need.

Webinars

Webinars are an affordable and flexible way of engaging with large groups of employees. People can participate in any location with internet connectivity, or access them later on-demand, from a website or intranet.

One-to-one sessions

We receive great feedback on group-based activities such as presentations and webinars, but some employees need a bit more help. They may be facing difficult decisions in the lead-up to retirement, for example, or have confidential questions to raise.

In our one-to-one sessions – whether delivered face to face or online – we will listen to your employees’ concerns and provide guidance on their specific circumstances, in ways that meet both your employees’ needs and your budget.

Workshops

Face-to-face workshops are a great way of engaging directly with your staff. We can deliver them on a group or a one-to-one basis. We can produce a bespoke workshop for your organisation, or we can deliver a more cost-efficient workshop reusing materials from previous workshops. Whichever you decide, we’ll run a pilot session with key decision-makers so you can preview the content and we can use your feedback to fine-tune the workshop before we deliver it.

Surgeries

We run surgeries as drop-in sessions, where groups or individuals can discuss an area of financial wellbeing with a consultant. Surgeries can be a very cost-effective way of reassuring people and answering awkward or sensitive questions.

– Julie Cridland, Employee Experience Lead, Aster Group

Find out more about our financial wellbeing services

Download our financial wellbeing brochure.

The post Our building blocks first appeared on First Actuarial.

Protect your workforce against pension scams

Katalin Felso — Mon, 14 Nov 2022 08:45:14 +0000

Protect your workforce against pension scams

Home Our services Financial wellbeing Protect your workforce against pension scams

Pension scams are on the rise

No-one is immune from pension scams. The next victim could be any one of your colleagues.

Pension scammers can be highly persuasive, using sophisticated methods to strip honest workers of their pension savings and retirement plans. And once that money is gone, it’s almost impossible to get back, even if the scammer is caught and prosecuted.

However, the pensions industry is taking decisive action to raise awareness of pension scams and combat these fraudsters. First Actuarial actively supports these initiatives.

How does First Actuarial help combat pension scams?

We actively adopt anti-scam initiatives

In recent years, we’ve supported anti-scam initiatives promoted by industry regulators. We are a signatory of the Pension Scams Industry Group (PSIG) Code of Good Practice, and all our scheme administrators comply with its recommendations.

Our processes give members maximum protection

Pension transfers are the frontline of attack for pension scammers. In line with 2021 transfer regulations, we have strengthened our robust processes with thorough due diligence checks, making sure all transfers meet strict criteria.

We embed scam awareness in all member documentation

We include clear scam warnings and information in our member communications, in particular transfer documents and annual benefit statements. Where schemes offer member websites or portals, we recommend that they include clear warnings against pension scams.

We provide up-to-date guidance and training to our staff

First Actuarial’s technical team analyses all pensions legislation and guidance. When new requirements are introduced, they make everyone aware of the changes and provide relevant and timely staff training.

We deliver financial awareness programmes

In partnership with employers and scheme trustees, we run workplace programmes to develop financial literacy. Together, we give people the skills to make independent decisions about their money.

Watch our video to help combat pension scams

The best way to protect employees against the risk of pension scams is to equip them with knowledge on how to spot scammers.

Watch our video for up-to-date information on scams that you can share across your workforce, including:

Warning signs of a scam – free pension reviews and other ‘too good to be true’ offers
How scammers approach potential victims – sophisticated tactics used to rob people of their retirement savings
How to protect yourself against a scam – including warning signs you can check.

Explore more resources about combating pension scams

Pension scams

In this RMT News article, First Actuarial’s Carolyn Stanton explains what pension scams are and how scheme members can protect their benefits.
Read more

First Actuarial’s pledge to combat pension scams

First Actuarial has signed up to the Pension Scams Industry Group Code of Good Practice. In this article, we explain what this means for members.
Read more

First Briefing – New transfer regulations

This briefing explains new regulations that set out when statutory pension transfers can and cannot take place.
Read more

New pension transfer regulations: the power to say ‘no’

In this article, First Actuarial’s Richard Packham describes the new powers that trustees and administrators now have to block fraudulent transfers.
Read more

FAQs – First Actuarial’s new approach to settling pension transfer values

A list of frequently asked questions to help trustees understand the processes we’ve put in place to protect members against fraudulent transfers.
Read more

10 ways to improve communications with pension scheme members

A well-informed member is less likely to be scammed. In this article, we outline the changes we’ve made to improve communications with members.
Read more

Find out how we can arm your workforce with the financial know-how they need to guard against pension scams.

Get in touch

– Julie Cridland, Employee Experience Lead, Aster Group

Find out more about our financial wellbeing services

Download our financial wellbeing brochure.

The post Protect your workforce against pension scams first appeared on First Actuarial.

Retirement Planner

Katalin Felso — Mon, 14 Nov 2022 08:33:36 +0000

Retirement Planner

Home Our services Financial wellbeing Retirement Planner

Help your employees feel in control of their financial future

Retirement income planning fills most people with dread. A typical employee will have built up benefits in a number of pension schemes during their career, and will experience confusion at the prospect of pulling them together to see the big picture.

Other sources of savings and income, such as the State Pension, which are just as important in retirement planning, can add to the sense of anxiety.

Supporting people with their retirement income planning can have a positive impact on financial wellbeing in the workplace. It can encourage young employees to start saving earlier, provide more certainty in the approach to retirement, and increase confidence throughout people’s working lives.

We have created a simple tool that helps people understand their retirement finances.

First Actuarial’s Retirement Planner estimates an individual’s potential retirement income from all sources – including occupational schemes from past and present employers and the State Pension.

This removes the fear of the unknown that individuals of all ages feel about their financial future – and shows the difference that saving a little bit more can make.

How does our Retirement Planner work?

Our Retirement Planner helps employees consider a ‘target income’ for retirement. It builds a picture of potential total income from past, current and future pension savings – including the State Pension and Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution schemes.

With this picture, the Planner then helps people think about their potential income in retirement. They can see if they are on track to retire when they would like to, with an income that will give them the lifestyle they’re looking for.

If they’re not on track, the Retirement Planner makes it easy to explore ways of making changes. The tool helps them see the effect of changes to their planned retirement date or pension contributions. Alternatively, they can aim for a different target income.

They can also explore the impact of taking any Defined Contribution schemes in annuity form or as flexible income drawdown.

A bespoke Retirement Planner for your organisation

Some employers ask us to create a bespoke version of the Planner, to include details of their own pension arrangements and benefits.

We design interfaces that are easy to use. They display information that aligns with the benefit statements members receive from their current pension scheme. We can also customise the Planner with the organisation’s branding.

The Retirement Planner often forms the powerful centrepiece of a broader financial wellbeing programme.

In one-to-one sessions with employees, we use the Planner to show someone their retirement finances, and then help them refine their plans. The tool provides a good talking point, and often helps ease anxieties around retirement and pensions.

We can also provide webinars and teaching videos to show how to use the Planner. And your organisation can make the tool available on your own network so employees can access it at their own convenience.

Why choose First Actuarial?

Many online pension planners only take into account an individual’s current scheme and maybe the State Pension.

With our Retirement Planner, individuals can add schemes and other sources of savings they’ve built up throughout their lives. And importantly, we make it as quick and easy to use as possible.

Colleagues found it easy to get a clear picture of their savings with the Retirement Planner. Feedback has been really positive.

– Julie Cridland, Employee Experience Lead, Aster Group

Get in touch

Get in touch for a demonstration of the Retirement Planner, or to discuss how we can create a bespoke version for your organisation.

I’d like help with retirement planning

Find out more about our financial wellbeing services

Download our financial wellbeing brochure.

The post Retirement Planner first appeared on First Actuarial.

Support for employees through change

Sarah Bartlett — Wed, 09 Nov 2022 14:37:17 +0000

Supporting employees through change

Home Our services Financial wellbeing Support for employees through change

People don’t like change but it’s not always possible, or desirable, to stay in the same place

If you have to change the pension benefits you provide, then you’ll need to explain the changes clearly to your staff, and make sure they understand the impact and the choices that they have.

People learn in different ways. Getting a message across to reach everyone will involve a carefully blended mix of announcements, presentations and discussion, with presenters who know how to engage and communicate.

People can react unpredictably to change, and clear and open communication is essential.

How First Actuarial can help

If you communicate openly and honestly, then change needn’t cause problems, even if benefits are being reduced.

As an independent consultant specialising in this area First Actuarial can help, by putting together a tailored change management programme using our building block approach.

We start by talking with you, to agree your objectives. We take you through the building blocks we use – from workshops and surgeries to websites and videos.

Your tailor-made programme will give your employees the information they need in ways that suit them best. You can blend webinars and one-to-one web chats, websites with booklets, and the learning modules are available individually or as a programme, depending on your objectives and your budget. See our building blocks for the choices you have in our module delivery.

Our financial wellbeing programme will help you, by

Getting your message across, with clear and concise announcements

Communicating changes openly and honestly, by organising and running group presentations

Encouraging people to ask questions and get to grips with how the change will affect them, by providing formal or informal one-to-one sessions

Being friendly, personable and approachable and going out of our way to answer questions before, during and after sessions

Using easy to use, high quality models to demonstrate the changes.

Why First Actuarial?

First Actuarial set up its financial wellbeing team over a decade ago, with an early understanding of the value of independent financial education in the workplace.

Our financial wellbeing consultants offer experience from across financial services. They all understand money and how it affects people’s lives. They include actuaries, who can understand even the most complicated areas of your pension scheme and its benefits.

Years of experience giving financial wellbeing training means our consultants have the skills to explain complex issues simply and clearly.

We work hard to get your message across and to address any specific issues that may generate discontent. We won’t avoid the difficult bits.

We’re independent, and that means we can be honest and open. That way, your members are much more likely to listen to us.

Without a shadow of a doubt, people now have a better understanding of finance and their pensions. After attending a webinar or a one-to-one, people are much better informed. First Actuarial provides guidance that we wouldn’t be able to give. They’re experts in their field.

– Julie Cridland, Employee Experience Lead, Aster Group

Find out more about our financial wellbeing services

Download our financial wellbeing brochure.

The post Support for employees through change first appeared on First Actuarial.

Ongoing Support

Sarah Bartlett — Wed, 09 Nov 2022 14:08:00 +0000

Ongoing support for employees

Home Our services Financial wellbeing Ongoing Support

Financial wellbeing services for your staff

Growing numbers of people suffer from stress caused by money worries. They’re unhappy, and they’re not fulfilling their potential at work.

Schools teach some of the life skills and knowledge that we need for adult life – from healthy eating to planning a timetable. But few people are taught how to manage money, an essential part of personal wellbeing. As a result, millions of adults suffer the consequences of poor financial understanding and decision-making, which can spill over into their working life.

How First Actuarial can help

Find out about money is our financial wellbeing programme. We help your employees understand more about budgeting, saving and borrowing, giving them skills to manage money and make plans for the future. When your employees are on top of their finances, they’ll be on top of their job – happy, focused and working productively.

Find out about money is a series of learning modules for your staff. We’ll deliver clear, meaningful information so your employees understand how to make the best possible choices with their money.

One great thing about Find out about money is its flexibility. We start by talking with you, to agree your objectives and your employees’ needs. We take you through the learning modules we offer and the building blocks we use to deliver learning and support – from workshops and surgeries to websites and videos, and everything in between!

Your tailor-made programme will give your employees the information they need in ways that suit them best. You can blend webinars and one-to-one web chats, websites with booklets, and the learning modules are available individually or as a programme, depending on your objectives and your budget. See our building blocks for the choices you have in our module delivery.

Once your Find out about money programme is up and running, we can refine it over time as your needs change and we get to know your employees.

What do our modules cover?

Because people’s financial concerns change over time, we’ve created modules that address the needs that arise at different stages of life, and these include:

Start Work

Starting a new job

We help new staff understand the benefits you offer and the options they can choose from.

Budgeting

We explain how people can buy the same things more cheaply, and what this extra money can do for any savings or debt they may have accumulated.

Managing debt

Almost everyone has debt. We explain the difference between good debt and bad debt. We show how to reduce debt and any interest payable on it, and manage credit rating.

Saving enough to stop work

We demonstrate a simple way to set an income target for retirement. And we explain to employees how to work out when they’ll be able to retire, and what their options are.

Addressing tax issues

Certain staff may have tax issues as a result of saving too much in any one year or over their lifetime. We outline the options that will help them make informed decisions.

Retirement counselling

Retirement can be a scary time. We’ll work with your staff to explain their retirement options and suggest ways to make the most of their income and their retirement years.

Start Work Retire

Budgeting

We explain how people can buy the same things more cheaply, and what this extra money can do for any savings or debt they may have accumulated.

Saving enough to stop work

We demonstrate a simple way to set an income target for retirement. And we explain to employees how to work out when they’ll be able to retire, and what their options are.

Retirement counselling

Retirement can be a scary time. We’ll work with your staff to explain their retirement options and suggest ways to make the most of their income and their retirement years.

Retire

Why First Actuarial?

First Actuarial set up its financial wellbeing team over a decade ago, with an early understanding of the value of independent financial education in the workplace.

Our financial wellbeing consultants offer experience from across financial services. They understand money and how to crunch numbers. And they’re great communicators. This blend of skills makes us ideally placed to help you build and deliver a financial wellbeing programme for your workforce.

What sets us apart from the rest?

We’re friendly

We use clear language that everyone will understand. We take our work seriously, but we’re not stiff and corporate. Our clients and their employees have a great time working with us and we think you will too.

We’re free-thinking

Legal compliance is a starting point, but it needn’t be a straitjacket. We think creatively and spontaneously about how to get you and your employees the best possible outcomes.

We’re flexible

Our team is professional and experienced, and we’ll get things done to your timescales. We’ll be your trusted partner, designing a programme to meet your needs using existing and bespoke modules.

– Julie Cridland, Employee Experience Lead, Aster Group

Find out more about our financial wellbeing services

Download our financial wellbeing brochure.

The post Ongoing Support first appeared on First Actuarial.

Financial wellbeing

Sarah Bartlett — Wed, 09 Nov 2022 13:15:12 +0000

Financial wellbeing services

Home Our services Financial wellbeing

We’ll support your workforce through any personal finance problems

Our Independent financial education specialists can help your company improve financial wellbeing in the workplace with:

Change management – When your employees need clear explanations and open discussion around pension scheme changes
Ongoing support – When you want to help your staff make better financial decisions, and improve performance by alleviating financial stress.

We’ll work with your employees to develop the skills they need to manage their pensions, budgets, savings and debt.

This is what we do to help

Engage

Passive listening is no way to learn. Expect your staff to get actively involved in our seminars and workshops. We understand how to develop a rapport with individuals and groups of people so they take ownership of their financial concerns.

Explain

We do whatever it takes to get our point across, even if that means telling bad jokes. We give real life examples, and get people to take part in simple scenarios. Over time, we’ve refined our seminars to get as many people as possible to understand and remember the key points.

Encourage

We highlight the small actions that people can take that make big differences, and we make sure that people leave our seminars ready to take action.

How do we do it?

We work out a plan for getting the agreed message across to your staff

A combination of group seminars, one to one sessions, webinars and mobile tools is usually what works best.

We create special mobile tools to help

Mobile tools and websites can simplify things that are actually quite complicated. We have developed a range of tools to ease people into the complexities of personal finance. For example our Financial MOT tool helps people get to grips with their personal finances, and our Retirement Planner helps people think about their retirement finances.

We work face-to-face with your staff

Online tools have their place, and webinars are cost-effective, but nothing beats working directly with people to get them genuinely involved and motivated.

We make the process easy for you

We work with you to address the needs of your organisation. That might mean providing a booking system for staff sessions, with appropriate reporting. It might even involve scheduling sessions in line with shift changes at midnight or 7am, to give all your staff access to the programme.

We get your staff talking about money and pensions

Your staff will come out of our sessions enthused, with clear ideas about how to make things better. They’ll be talking to each other comfortably about the financial decisions they’ve made and why.

And this is what we don’t do

We’ll never sell anything to your staff
We’re not IFAs (Independent Financial Advisers) – so we don’t offer financial advice

We won’t be too cautious – your staff need guidance not just information
We don’t use long words when shorter ones do just as well

How does First Actuarial work in practice?

When we start working with you, we’ll sit down and work out what you are trying to achieve.

This might involve us explaining the changes you are making to your pension scheme to make it more affordable. Alternatively, you may want us to improve employee perception of your scheme or help staff with their own financial planning.

Once we know what your objectives are, we can draw up a plan based on our experience of running programmes for other organisations. To put it simply, we know what works and we can guide you to a simple cost-effective approach that will work for you.

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Our UK workforce recently watched a First Actuarial financial wellbeing webinar. It was set at the right level, without ever patronising our staff, and clear explanations made even the more challenging topics easy to understand. It was short enough to watch, but long enough to cover the information we needed. All in all, it was an excellent presentation. Thanks, First Actuarial, for sharing such valuable information.

Financial Wellbeing - First Actuarial

Improve wellbeing with our Financial MOT tool

Improve wellbeing with our Financial MOT tool