Mid-life support is 'crucial' for both employers and employees

The organisation's Mid-life support: Insights for employers report - published today (29 August) - revealed mid-life support via interventions such as the mid-life MOT for members of staff in their 40s and 50s can benefit employers by contributing to recruitment and retention of staff.

The report suggested the mid-life MOT - which has been rolled out by a number of providers including Aviva and Legal & General - should crucially cover psychological and emotional wellbeing, along with health, finances, and retirement plans.

Particularly looking at wealth, the framework for the content of a mid-life review proposed by the think-tank suggests evaluating an employee's income, expenditure, assets, retirement, and goals, while offering advice and guidance.

According to the not-for-profit, mid-life support gives employees more choice and enables them to work for as long as they decide to, while allowing their employers to hold on to their skills and experiences and benefit from age-diverse workforces.

It stated: "Planning for the transition to retirement can help people avoid leaving work prematurely or experiencing a ‘cliff-edge' retirement where they stop work abruptly."

While the report notes that the lack of planning and preparation for retirement is widespread, it reveals workplaces offering employees this mid-life support framework could drastically boost this.

Royal London pensions specialist Helen Morrissey agreed the use of strategies such as the mid-life MOT are a "win-win for employers and employees".

She said: "They encourage employees to think about what they want their later life to look like and to plan accordingly while employers have the opportunity to improve retention of older staff members by making the most of their skills and experience and deploying them effectively within their businesses."

The government has launched a website dedicated to the idea of mid-life support, however, a House of Lords committee has also said "a good deal more thought" is needed as schemes are in danger of "missing those most in need of support".

This follows a report published by the think-tank last year which revealed providers that had already adopted the mid-life MOT agreed on the benefits of engaging both employees and self-employed people in a sustained way to help them plan their careers and finances to prepare for later life.

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• Topics
• Industry
• mid-life MOT
• Centre for Ageing Better
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• Royal London
• Helen Morrissey
• House of Lords
• Employees
• employers