.gif)
09 August 2012 10:01
Millions of young Britons are more likely to understand a foreign language than pensions jargon, a study suggests.
Nearly one in four 20 to 29-year-olds understood the exact meaning of simple French, German and Spanish phrases, but fewer than one in 10 knew the precise meaning of basic pensions terminology, according to the poll by ICM for the Young Money report by financial services consultancy MRM.
A third said they knew the exact meaning of the French for "how old are you?" while one in five understood the German for "what is your name?" and one in six for "how are you?" in Spanish.
In contrast, just over one in 10 said they knew the exact meaning of the term annuity. The same number understood what final salary pension meant while just one in every 14 knew the phrase auto-enrolment.
MRM director Michael Taggart said: "You might say that pensions are like a foreign language to young British adults.
"In fact, our survey shows the industry is even less comprehensible than that.
"On the one hand, auto-enrolment will soon mean all young workers will have a workplace pension, but without knowledge and understanding they might fail to see the benefits and opt out."
