Getting rid of the gobbledygook - Why did NEST cut down on pensions jargon?

Today we’ve published an updated edition of the NEST phrasebook. Though it might resemble an ordinary style guide, it’s far more than that. It’s actually one of the most important tools we use to ensure NEST members and their employers understand what auto enrolment means to them. Let me explain.

A few years ago we faced a challenge. NEST’s research showed that unclear and needlessly technical language about saving for retirement acted as a barrier to understanding pensions. We found that this could then damage people’s chances of saving for retirement and achieving their aspirations for later life.

The research showed that more than half of respondents (57 per cent) thought that sometimes the language used to describe pensions seemed so complicated that they couldn’t understand what the best option was for them. In fact, one in three people (29 per cent of all respondents and 39 per cent of NEST’s target group) were putting off thinking about saving for retirement because they found pensions confusing. If they couldn’t see the worth of saving for tomorrow through a pension, partly because the facts were hidden behind complex jargon, then they might not be alone. There was also the danger that others, who started saving because of auto enrolment, might not see the value in continuing to save for their future.

Just as jargon was a problem for workers, we also found that it was an issue for employers. Workers, confused and worried about pensions, were more likely to approach their employers with time-consuming questions. This would make the employer’s experience of complying with their new duties more challenging.

Our solution was the NEST’s phrasebook, packed full of jargon-busting terms and straightforward explanations. For example, asset allocation became ‘fund make-up’ and ‘impaired life annuity’ became ‘a retirement income based on health.’ This rapidly became a cornerstone of our ‘clear comms’ approach that means people don’t need to be accountants or advisers to see the value of a pension.

But we also recognised that effective communication is all about getting it right for the audience. So, for pension specialists we also designed other communications resources, with language that reflected their greater technical vocabulary and knowledge of sector, including our fund factsheets on the NEST website.

As the third edition of the phrasebook hits our website it’s clear the sector as a whole has made great strides in making the language around pensions more accessible. I think this work has saved people a good measure of unnecessary confusion, stress, and wasted time. This latest edition aims to help still further. As it’s also Pension Awareness Day, I hope today that a new group of people are currently using it to help understand pensions and their outlook for retirement.       

You can download our revised Phrasebook from the NEST website.