The more I get to work with employers, talk about how we’re going to help the millions of smaller employers comply with auto enrolment and try to share our thoughts on the particular subject ( in our recently written White Paper ) I’m coming to a realisation…

I love working helping employers, fellow professionals and working with my team on the puzzle which is automatic enrolment.

However, don’t get me wrong….in the general scheme of things, and although I’ve confessed my affection for automatic enrolment, it comes down the list of the things I love.

Obviously the list is topped by my Cassie, Charlotte and Sophie and then (in no particular order and missing many of the entries) contains Pigs in Blankets, Reading, Curry with Egg, Writing, 80’s nostalgia, Social Psychology, Chas and Dave, and Laughing.

Obviously the list I’ve mentioned isn’t exclusive….

I’d be a pretty strange fella if I was a family loving, constantly laughing, weird food eating, Novelty music listening financial planning business owner with an interest in social psychology.

(What’s that you say? You’ve met me and that sums me up well…..do me a favour, keep it to yourself….ta!)

However somewhere within the pretty extensive list of the stuff I love is being actively involved with automatic enrolment…

Let me share the three of the reasons why…

1) I love the ‘jigsaw’ of automatic enrolment

During the work we’ve been doing with firms over the last couple of years I’ve realised something about automatic enrolment.

Auto Enrolment is a Jigsaw.

However instead of putting together small pieces of wood to solve the problem, you’re ensuring that certain parts of a business work together, communicate and run smoothly.

Whilst traditionally this is an area I’ve not focused on….I’ve found myself enjoying this process.

Instead of only being about pensions, auto enrolment is actually about pensions, payroll, systems, processes, a bit of employment law and much more. 

The fun bit is putting it all together into a process with works and delivering to the employer a compliant process.

Also, whilst the puzzle for many smaller businesses will undoubtedly be more simply, the analogy still applies…..just for many firms the complexity of the puzzle reduced slightly.

2) Auto Enrolment is big

There’s never been a challenge, either for the market or any of the businesses actively involved in the automatic enrolment market which has been so big.

Think about this….

Every employer in the country needs to take action. This will help millions of people to start to independently save for retirement for the first time.

Whilst that might be slightly overwhelming for some, and a little scary for me, it’s also massively exciting!

These rules (and especially if other countries examples are to be looked at) have a great chance to empower millions to start take control of their financial futures for the first time.

How good is that?!….

3) Auto Enrolment has positive potential

….Which brings me onto my next point. Auto Enrolment, whilst is a bit of a pain to comply with initially, is massively positive.

Whilst it is a cost for employers, it also empowers employers to help their employees to save for their own financial futures. This is a good thing.

For employees the ‘nudge’ of auto enrolment will benefit them all by allowing people who always knew saving for the long term was the right thing to do but never go round to doing it. This is a good thing.

and

As I’ve already mentioned, as a society no piece of recent financial legislation will do more over the next decades to empower people to take control of their own financial futures. This is a good thing.

Auto Enrolment may feel like a challenge now, but I reckon, and like many countries in the world which adopt similar systems when established, we’ll look back knowing it was the right thing to do.

So, The Big, Scary, Positive Puzzle of auto enrolment is in my list containing sausages wrapped in bacon, The A team and the occasional chuckle…..

However I still can’t help but love the challenge, the potential and the positivity of automatic enrolment.

How do you feel about it?