Britain's pension ambition is rising - just as cash resilience slips

'2026's 'pension resolution' wave is real. But so is the cash-cushion squeeze'

clock • 6 min read

ONS data and January pension intentions expose a behavioural mismatch advisers can turn into real advice alpha, writes Phillip Wickenden

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has delivered an oddly important warning for advisers: the household saving ratio fell in Q3 2025 because non-pension saving weakened, even as pension saving held up. At the same time, fresh polling suggests a sharp jump in people intending to increase pension contributions in 2026 - especially younger defined contribution (DC) savers. Put those together and you don't get a "pension vs cash" debate. You get a design problem: how do we turn January pension virtue into a contribution habit that survives February? This is advice alpha in its pu...

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