Public-benefit research and innovation hub Nest Insight has announced a collaboration on research trials to help the self-employed. Supported by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the two trials, which aim to help self-employed workers save for retirement will be undertaken alongside fintech pension provider Penfold and open data and payments platform Moneyhub.
Jo Phillips, Director of Research and Innovation at Nest Insight, said: “The low level of saving for retirement by self-employed people is a well-known problem. It’s not that self-employed people aren’t interested – there’s a real appetite for saving for the longer term.”
“But self-employed people have told us that it can be difficult to find ways to save that fit with their lives and context – they often have limited time and headspace combined with variable income and future uncertainty. So far, few solutions have been developed to address these barriers.”
“That’s why we’re delighted to be working with leading fintechs Penfold and Moneyhub to explore how self-employed people interact with these flexible technology-based solutions which we believe could be better suited to their needs. We hope these insights will inform the industry and policymakers on how best to support self-employed people to save.”
Phillips added: “The solutions being trialled are intended to be scalable and, if successful, could make it much easier for self-employed people to save towards future financial security.”
As part of a multi-year programme, the pilots will test different ways to help self-employed people save for retirement via the online tools that self-employed people already use. Solutions that will be tested include helping self-employed people to save a percentage of their income, nudging them to save at significant moments and when their monthly income is higher and trying out different vehicles for saving. The results of the trials will be analysed by Nest Insight shared and publicly in 2022.
Pensions Minister Guy Opperman MP said: “Pilots such as these are vital in understanding how to better help self-employed people achieve the retirement they want. We have worked with Nest Insight to ensure a variety of flexible saving options are tested and I look forward to reviewing the outcomes.”
