Technology can make pensions and investing easier to understand

Technology has the potential to change how people engage with pensions and investments. Used well, it could help people see their retirement savings in one place, understand the choices available to them and explore the impact of different decisions before they reach retirement.

It could make support feel more personal, more accessible and easier to understand. That matters in a system where many people need help but may not be able or willing to pay for regulated financial advice.

Change is happening at pace. For example, at Scottish Widows we’re developing new AI-powered assistants to help customers navigate the complexities of financial decisions. Tools like InvestAI, embedded in our app, are designed to build both confidence and capability – opening up investing to those who’ve felt it’s not for them.

Research shows many hold back not through lack of interest, but lack of confidence, knowledge, and a safe space to ask questions. AI can provide an accessible, non-judgemental way to explore even the simplest questions, helping customers learn at their own pace.

Clear context setting and transparent design, combined with FCA-aligned guidance (not personalised advice), help build trust and give customers a greater sense of control.

Through simple, conversational interactions, AI tools can help customers understand their pensions, savings and investments – explaining products, outlining options, and supporting decisions at key moments in their investment journey using natural conversational language.

Change is happening at pace. For example, at Scottish Widows we’re developing new AI-powered assistants to help customers navigate the complexities of financial decisions.”

Our findings suggest that AI’s role is likely to grow over time, but from a low base. Younger adults are leading adoption, especially younger men, which suggests expectations of digital pension support may change as these groups move closer to retirement.

For now, people appear more comfortable using AI for simpler, lower-risk tasks. But comfort falls as decisions become more complex, particularly where AI is asked to suggest where a pension should be invested or how money should be taken in retirement.

That distinction is important. AI could play a valuable role in helping people understand their choices and engage earlier, but it should not shape major pension decisions without appropriate safeguards. Trust is currently low, and the main concerns are practical ones: whether AI will protect personal data and whether it will give information that is accurate, suitable and accountable.

The issue is not just whether AI tools work technically. It is whether consumers know who is responsible for the output, whether the service is regulated, what protections apply and where they can turn if something goes wrong.

While AI should not replace advice, the technology can be used responsibly to widen access to timely, trusted support. That will require clear standards on accuracy, accountability, suitability, explainability, consumer protection and redress. If those safeguards are in place, AI could help make retirement planning feel less daunting and more relevant, while supporting better decisions before and during retirement.