Retirement Report 2026 Part Three: The role of technology and AI in retirement decision making
Part Two of our 2026 Retirement Report series looked at the decisions people face as they access their pensions, and the support available. Now in Part Three we turn our focus to the role of technology – in particular AI and the pivotal role it will have in helping shape people’s futures.
Pension tracing tools, open finance, gamified learning and Targeted Support have the potential to connect people more closely with their pensions, encourage them to seek guidance and help them see their pensions in one place, making retirement decisions feel more intuitive.
AI in particular could play a particularly important role in democratising support. Used well, it could explain jargon, personalise information and support people who would not otherwise pay for regulated financial advice. But trust will be critical. Our research shows that while awareness of AI is high, its use for financial tasks remains relatively low. People are understandably cautious about using AI for important pension decisions, particularly where personal data, accuracy and suitability are involved.
The opportunity is not for AI to replace advice, but rather to complement, enhance and extend support by widening access to financial guidance. That means using technology responsibly, with clear safeguards, strong regulation and accountability, so innovation improves outcomes rather than creating new risks or adding more layers of complexity.
Our research shows that while awareness of AI is high, its use for financial tasks remains relatively low.”
Technology and the future of retirement support
Technology, including AI, will be central to improving retirement decision-making. The challenge is not only to give people more information, but to help them make sense of that information at the right time and in the right context.
There are five areas where technology can help:
1. Aggregation: keeping track of historic pots
As people change jobs during their career more than ever before, they accumulate multiple pension pots, in addition to the State Pension. The Department for Work and Pensions has estimated that individuals may change employers as many as 11 times during their working lives, and under automatic enrolment each move can create another workplace pension pot. The scale of the issue is already material: the Pensions Policy Institute estimates that there are 3.3 million lost pension pots in the UK, containing £31.1 billion of assets. Being able to keep track of these disparate schemes and see a holistic view of their available retirement funds will become increasingly important.
There are tools available to help people trace lost pension pots, like the government’s free pension tracing service. And a free, government-backed pension dashboard service is on its way, due to be launched through MoneyHelper in the 2027/28 financial year, with private sector dashboards expected to follow soon after.
Some providers already offer their own pension tracing tools, including Scottish Widows which has a feature in-app which allows scheme members to trace pensions from previous employers and decide on their next course of action.
1. Aggregation: keeping track of historic pots
As people change jobs during their career more than ever before, they accumulate multiple pension pots, in addition to the State Pension. The Department for Work and Pensions has estimated that individuals may change employers as many as 11 times during their working lives, and under automatic enrolment each move can create another workplace pension pot. The scale of the issue is already material: the Pensions Policy Institute estimates that there are 3.3 million lost pension pots in the UK, containing £31.1 billion of assets. Being able to keep track of these disparate schemes and see a holistic view of their available retirement funds will become increasingly important.
There are tools available to help people trace lost pension pots, like the government’s free pension tracing service. And a free, government-backed pension dashboard service is on its way, due to be launched through MoneyHelper in the 2027/28 financial year, with private sector dashboards expected to follow soon after.
Some providers already offer their own pension tracing tools, including Scottish Widows which has a feature in-app which allows scheme members to trace pensions from previous employers and decide on their next course of action.
2. Engagement: making retirement decisions more intuitive
Pensions can risk feeling distant and technical, particularly before retirement decisions become urgent. Better digital engagement can help people understand the impact of different choices earlier. Using gamified experiences, complex decisions can be broken down into more manageable steps, prompting savers to engage more intuitively and making retirement planning feel more relevant and easier to act on.
Gamified learning is becoming a key tool across financial services to bring complex topics to life. Scottish Widows has applied this approach, turning dry, technical subjects into engaging experiences that drive positive behaviour change. For example, an in-app journey called ‘How to Boost Your Pension’ uses intuitive language, analogies and interactivity to make compound interest feel simple, relevant and motivating.
2. Engagement: making retirement decisions more intuitive
Pensions can risk feeling distant and technical, particularly before retirement decisions become urgent. Better digital engagement can help people understand the impact of different choices earlier. Using gamified experiences, complex decisions can be broken down into more manageable steps, prompting savers to engage more intuitively and making retirement planning feel more relevant and easier to act on.
Gamified learning is becoming a key tool across financial services to bring complex topics to life. Scottish Widows has applied this approach, turning dry, technical subjects into engaging experiences that drive positive behaviour change. For example, an in-app journey called ‘How to Boost Your Pension’ uses intuitive language, analogies and interactivity to make compound interest feel simple, relevant and motivating.
3. Context: understanding your whole financial world
Pensions are only one part of a household’s retirement position. Retirement decisions also depend on savings, investments, housing equity, benefits, debt, housing costs, utilities and other essential spending. This is consistent with the wider financial wellbeing agenda led by the Money and Pensions Service, whose MoneyHelper service provides free, impartial support across money, pensions, benefits and debt, not just pensions in isolation. Open finance could help people see these elements together, making support more relevant to their real financial lives.
Understanding the full financial picture is becoming a key focus across the industry. Scottish Widows uses Moneyhub’s open finance technology to bring customers’ products together in one place, with a manual add option for those who prefer it.
Seeing everything together is a powerful first step, but the real impact comes from what follows. Structured categories, portfolio weightings and gap identification can help customers go beyond viewing their finances to actively improving them.
3. Context: understanding your whole financial world
Pensions are only one part of a household’s retirement position. Retirement decisions also depend on savings, investments, housing equity, benefits, debt, housing costs, utilities and other essential spending. This is consistent with the wider financial wellbeing agenda led by the Money and Pensions Service, whose MoneyHelper service provides free, impartial support across money, pensions, benefits and debt, not just pensions in isolation. Open finance could help people see these elements together, making support more relevant to their real financial lives.
Understanding the full financial picture is becoming a key focus across the industry. Scottish Widows uses Moneyhub’s open finance technology to bring customers’ products together in one place, with a manual add option for those who prefer it.
Seeing everything together is a powerful first step, but the real impact comes from what follows. Structured categories, portfolio weightings and gap identification can help customers go beyond viewing their finances to actively improving them.
4. Democratisation: reducing the cost of decision-making support
Today, many consumers face a gap between free, general guidance and more comprehensive regulated financial advice, which can be costly and is therefore more accessible to those able to pay for it. Technology, including AI, could help bring down the cost of that support, making more personalised guidance available to a wider group of households. Initiatives like Targeted Support will complement, not replace, regulated financial advice and help to close the advice gap.
4. Democratisation: reducing the cost of decision-making support
Today, many consumers face a gap between free, general guidance and more comprehensive regulated financial advice, which can be costly and is therefore more accessible to those able to pay for it. Technology, including AI, could help bring down the cost of that support, making more personalised guidance available to a wider group of households. Initiatives like Targeted Support will complement, not replace, regulated financial advice and help to close the advice gap.
5. Trust: protecting consumers as technology develops
People will need confidence that their data and their money are secure, and that any support they receive is accurate, suitable and in their best interests. Regulation, accountability and redress will be essential to building trust in technology-enabled pension support.
5. Trust: protecting consumers as technology develops
People will need confidence that their data and their money are secure, and that any support they receive is accurate, suitable and in their best interests. Regulation, accountability and redress will be essential to building trust in technology-enabled pension support.
