Peter Nicholas asks trustees to think about ways to engage with pension clients
Leroy is on his last legs. Leroy, our much loved, 17 year old global travelling Jack Russell hasn't seen much of this summer. He walks slowly, can no longer climb the stairs, has lost interest in food and spends most of his day asleep in his basket.
It's remarkable he's made it this far.
He's a BC dog – before children. He survived being ridden, dressed up, made-up and dragged around as they grew-up. He was hit by a car, leaving him with a broken jaw, lost teeth, partial blindness and requiring a series of shoulder reconstructions.
At the ripe old age of 14 (circa 90 in dog years), he emigrated with us from the sunny shores of Manly Beach in Sydney to the rural surrounds of West Yorkshire, encountering squirrels and hedgehogs for the first time.
He has subsequently lost his hearing, has a heart murmur and suffers from pancreatitis.
It will be hard to say "good bye".
What is it about pets that trigger our emotions? Why is it that we will go to extraordinary lengths to look out for the wellbeing of our pets, yet not consider our own futures in the same way?
We make sure they eat the right amount of the right food, but often don't apply the same care to ourselves. We make sure they get exercise, but often neglect our own fitness.
If our pets had pensions I wonder how good theirs would be compared to our own.
I know if Leroy had a pension, that I, just like a trustee, would have been looking out for his best interests.
I would have taken the time to train him on the behaviours that gave him the greatest chance of getting the most out of his pension. And when it comes to training dogs you realise very quickly a one-off fancy advertising campaign just doesn't work.
Training has to be a well-structured programme that connects with his interests and rewards his progress, exactly the same principles that we apply in building gamification into our modellers.
For many, pensions are boring. The key to engagement is to connect through emotions, to use the psychology of communication and the fundamental principles of learning to drive the right outcomes.
It has certainly worked with Leroy over 17 years.
Written by Peter Nicholas, CEO, AHC, www.ahc.com
