Automatic enrolment opt-outs low at first year anniversary

It has now been a year since automatic enrolment started, and a survey by NEST and the Futures Company has found that out of the 1.4 million people who have been automatically enrolled, only 9% have opted out.  Initial forecasts predicted that up to 30% would opt out.

The study found that the reasons given by respondents for opting out were: 

Affordability                         32%

Saving in other ways              15%

Too close to retirement         14%

Half (51%) of those who took part in the survey and who hadn't opted out said this was because they thought it was time to start saving for retirement. NEST said its wider research showed that "money worries during the recession have given way to an increasing sense of personal financial responsibility", contributing to low opt-out rates.

NEST now has over 1,000 employers signed up to it, covering over half a million members.  NEST said its assets under management now total around £30 million.

0If you want to read more about automatic enrolment, you can visit our web page here.

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