Retirement planning starts long before your final day at work

Supporting people and organisations to thrive | 5 minute read

Retirement may be one of the most important financial events in an employee's life, yet it is often one of the easiest to postpone. For many employees, mortgages, childcare costs, and everyday living expenses understandably take priority, making long-term financial planning something to think about later.

As employee expectations evolve, financial wellbeing is becoming a key aspect of the employee experience. Organisations that support retirement planning help improve financial outcomes and reinforce the value of their benefits.

This presents employers with an opportunity to support employees earlier and more consistently. Workplace pensions are now seen as part of a broader financial wellbeing strategy, helping employees feel more secure about their future and demonstrating an employer's commitment to long-term wellbeing.

Key takeaways

1. Retirement planning is most effective when employees engage with it early.

2. Workplace pensions are an important component of long-term financial wellbeing.

3. Education and communication matter as much as pension scheme design.

4. Auto-enrolment is increasing awareness of retirement savings, but employee engagement remains essential.

5. Employers can play an important role in helping employees understand and value their pension benefits.

Why retirement planning matters

Psychosocial hazards may be less visible than physical risks, but they can harm mental and physical health, affecting concentration and safe performance. Their impact can lead to absence, turnover, reduced productivity and mistakes, so organisations should proactively review how work is designed and managed.

43%

of workers without supplementary pension cover said they had never got around to organising it or planned to do so in the future.¹

32%

of workers in Ireland reported stress, depression or anxiety caused or made worse by work during the previous year.*

Source: EU-OSHA’s OSH Pulse 2025 Survey

The role employers can play

Many organisations are taking a broader approach to financial wellbeing. While retirement planning is ultimately a personal responsibility, employers can play an important role in helping employees feel informed, supported, and confident about their future.

Clear, consistent communication helps employees understand their workplace pension, the value of employer contributions, and how retirement savings fit into their broader financial plans. Engagement should occur at all career stages, as employees have varying priorities and levels of understanding.

Ireland's Auto-Enrolment Retirement Savings Scheme has also brought retirement savings into sharper focus for employers and employees alike. While the scheme will help more workers begin saving for retirement, it does not remove the need for ongoing education, communication, and engagement. Employees still need to understand what they are contributing towards, how employer contributions add value and how retirement savings fit into their broader financial plans.²

When pensions sit alongside wider benefits, wellbeing initiatives and support programmes, organisations can create a more connected employee experience. This helps employees better understand the full value of their benefits package and demonstrates a long-term commitment to their financial future.

Retirement readiness is most effective when it forms part of a wider financial wellbeing strategy. By supporting employees throughout their careers, employers can strengthen their employee value proposition while helping people feel more informed, confident, and engaged with their financial future.

How NFP can help

At NFP Ireland, we believe workplace pensions are most effective when they form part of a broader employee benefits and financial wellbeing strategy.

Our workplace pension specialists can help you:

Design and review workplace pension arrangements
Support pension governance and regulatory requirements.
Navigate pension legislation and industry developments.
Improve employee communication and engagement.
Help employees better understand their retirement planning options.
Integrate pensions into a wider financial wellbeing strategy.

We work with organisations across Ireland to create pension strategies that support business objectives and employee wellbeing. By combining pension expertise with broader benefits and wellbeing support, we help employers develop a connected approach that strengthens their benefits proposition while supporting better outcomes for employees.

Start the retirement conversation

RProviding access to a workplace pension is an important first step. Helping employees understand, engage with and value that pension is what makes it a meaningful part of their financial future.

Retirement planning should not begin only a few years before leaving the workforce. Employees lay the foundation throughout their careers by making informed choices, saving consistently, and understanding available support. Early engagement builds greater confidence in their financial future.

If you'd like to review your workplace pension strategy or explore ways to improve employee engagement with retirement planning, speak to NFP Ireland's workplace pension specialists.

Want to see how we can help?

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This insights article is not intended to address any specific situation or to provide legal, regulatory, financial, or other advice. While care has been taken in the production of this article, NFP does not warrant, represent or guarantee the accuracy, adequacy, completeness or fitness for any purpose of the article or any part of it and can accept no liability for any loss incurred in any way by any person who may rely on it. Any recipient shall be responsible for the use to which it puts this article. This article has been compiled using information available to us up to its date of publication.

NFP contributors

Dr. Paul Cummins, PhD.
CEO of SeaChange, an NFP company

References

EU-OSHA, OSH Pulse 2025 – Ireland: Severe time pressure or overload of work (*Based on 1,009 interviews conducted in March–April 2025. These are self-reported experiences, not clinical diagnoses.)