Auto-enrolment limit remains unchanged

The Government has opted to keep the earnings trigger for auto-enrolment at £10,000 for 2022/23, which will bring an additional 17,000 savers into pension schemes.

The Department for Work and Pensions said the decision on the auto-enrolment limit reflected the need for a balance between employers and individuals, and to help savers accrue as much as possible for retirement.

“It also reflects the need for stability at this point in the light of the challenging economic circumstances arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and while we continue to learn from the increases in minimum contribution rates in April 2018 and April 2019,” it added.

The total minimum contribution increased from 2% to 5% in 2018/19 and to 8% in 2019/20.

Andrew Tully, technical director at Canada Life, commented: ‘Freezing the Auto-enrolment limit at £10,000 still means more workers will be auto-enrolled as their earnings increase above £10,000. However, it fails to address the major issue which is the many people – mostly women – who earn below £10,000, or have multiple jobs each of which are below £10,000, who aren’t auto-enrolled.’

He went on to say ‘We know automatically enrolling people in a pension has been a huge success, now we need to extend that coverage to more people who are currently missing the opportunity to benefit from their employer’s pension contributions.’

There’s no doubt that auto-enrolment has increased the number or people saving for their eventual retirement. If you’d like to ensure you’re doing all that you could or should towards your future, it’s definitely worthwhile arranging an update with your financial advisor, particularly if you haven’t done so in the recent past. As the economy has changed drastically in the last two years, many aspects of the retirement planning landscape have done the same. We all want to ensure we’re getting the most from our hard work, and that our plans for the future aren’t scuppered by a lack of forethought!