Pensions industry heavyweights lead 'mid-life MOT' development
A handful of industry heavyweights have begun trialling a so-called 'mid-life MOT', with positive initial results reported by all those involved.
Case studies taken from the ‘mid-life MOT' trials of Aviva, Legal & General, Mercer and The Pensions Advisory Service have been outlined in a joint report published today by the Centre for Ageing Better.
According to the report, Developing the mid-life MOT, all four organisations agreed on the benefits of engaging both employees and self-employed people in a sustained way to help them plan their careers and finances, and think about their health in later life.
Meanwhile, participants in the pilot schemes said they valued the support offered - especially the combination of different types of guidance.
The report suggested it was important that a mid-life MOT was the start of an engagement process, with participants signposted and encouraged to take up further support.
Centre for Ageing Better senior programme manager Patrick Thomson said, as people live longer, they should act earlier in life in order to remain healthier and able to work for longer.
"People in mid-life could benefit from better access to information and advice to plan and prepare for their later lives," he added.
"We look forward to continuing to work collaboratively with government, employers and providers to ensure everyone who needs support can benefit and to test out these promising approaches to find out what works."
'Championing'
The idea of a ‘mid-life MOT' was first proposed in the Cridland Report, authored by John Cridland, which suggested the policy would act as a check-up on a person's finances, much as someone might receive a check-up from a doctor.
According to Cridland, it should be targeted at those aged 50 and above and would allow people to consider their existing financial and lifestyle plans, as well as provide guidance on where to obtain help in the future. An exact idea of how the policy might work is yet to be formulated.
Aviva has previously described itself as "championing" the policy, having already made public the results of trialling the scheme on 94 of it Norwich-based employees.
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