Whether your workforce has 200 employees or 10, the chances are they’ll have experienced the loss of a loved one in their life. But with just 10% of our 6+ million members nominating a pension beneficiary¹, millions of people are setting themselves up to make that loss even more painful.

The importance of nominating beneficiaries

Nominating a beneficiary helps bring peace of mind to workers who want to continue looking after their loved ones once they’re gone. But it’s not just your employees who would feel the benefit of naming their beneficiary – your business would too.

For one, reminding employees to name a beneficiary can demonstrate you’re working in their best interests. Those with named beneficiaries are likely to feel happier and more secure, safe in the knowledge that their loved ones will be financially supported even when they’re no longer there. A happier workforce can help boost work productivity and morale.

Not having a nominated pension beneficiary may lead to unnecessary challenges, such as delays in monies getting to a member’s partner and family. This could cause potential frictions between your company and any parties involved in claiming the pension, and may have a negative knock-on effect on your other employees’ mentality and feelings about your business.

A reminder about Inheritance Tax

Many people will have seen or heard about the issues surrounding inheritance – particularly around Inheritance Tax.

It’s worth reminding your workers that beneficiaries will not usually have to pay Inheritance Tax when inheriting a pension. This is because the payment is ‘discretionary’ – meaning the value isn’t typically counted as part of an estate. This can come as a comfort to employees and boost their mental health, knowing their family won’t have to worry about money as this will have been taken care of prior to their passing.

How we can help

As one of the leading UK master trusts, we can help you engage with your employees about pension beneficiaries and help grow understanding about the benefits this can bring them and their loved ones.

Our Communications Toolkit contains handy resources that enables employers to talk more openly about pensions with their teams – including links to where they can fill out a pension beneficiary form.

You can also remind your workers that they can easily add beneficiaries by using their Online Account, which they can learn more about here. If you’d like further support or have any questions around beneficiaries and other pension-related issues, our dedicated support team is happy to help. You can get in touch with them by emailing nbsupport@peoplespartnership.co.uk or calling 01293 205556.