Aberdeenshire Council has a total Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) workforce
of 11,696 employees. They partnered with My Money Matters in 2019 after recognising
the need to support the financial wellbeing of their workforce through effective financial
education and a valuable retirement benefit.
Given the challenges their employees faced, including financial stress and low retirement
readiness, Aberdeenshire Council wanted to provide a solution to help their employees
better understand and manage their finances.
Initially, Aberdeenshire Council collaborated with My Money Matters to assist their LGPS
members in enhancing their retirement outcomes through the salary sacrifice Shared
Cost AVC benefit scheme.
They are now expanding this partnership by working with My Money Matters to introduce
broader financial education, tools, and resources designed to empower their employees
to build lasting financial security.
Results and Impact:
Improved employee financial literacy and confidence, with 3,387 employees (30% of the workforce) now registered to their bespoke online platform.
Increased utilisation of retirement savings plans to 646 members, which they’ve grown by 29% in the past year.
Reduced financial stress and improved employee satisfaction.
Cost savings for the employer via Shared Cost AVC National Insurance savingsof over £1 million, with £255,180 saved in the past year alone.
Key components:
Shared Cost AVC benefit for tax-efficient savings
Shared Cost AVCs offer LGPS members a tax-efficient way to boost their retirement
income by reducing Income Tax and National Insurance contributions (NICs) on their
contributions to the scheme.
In addition, employees were provided with an LGPS retirement calculator, enabling them to
estimate how much they need to save to achieve their desired retirement income.
Tailored financial education resources
Employees were invited to complete a personalised assessment of their financial situation.
Based on their financial health check score, employees could join tailored educational
webinars to expand their financial knowledge in areas most relevant to them.
Live webinars and on-demand content
A range of webinars were made available, covering diverse topics such as savings and
investments, insurance, retirement planning, estate planning, and money management.
1-on-1 personalised financial coaching
Employees also had access to one-on-one coaching sessions with Education Specialists.
These sessions provided personalised guidance, answered specific questions, and helped
employees make informed financial decisions.
Engaging Employee Communications
All these benefits were effectively communicated to employees through customized
digital posters, banners, intranet posts, newsletters, and promotional emails, ensuring
widespread awareness and engagement.
Since launching their scheme in 2019, Aberdeenshire Council have been closely involved
with the My Money Matters team to consistently boost scheme engagement across their
workforce. This has involved the likes of invitation files to make sure all staff are aware of
the benefit, employer forums to foster discussion around the scheme and themed
collateral for the likes of Pension Awareness Week.
“We’ve enjoyed a successful working partnership with My Money Matters since 2019. From day
one, they have innovated and improved their service but never lost sight of the need to empower
our employees to make their own financial and retirement decisions using the information made
available to them. We launched the scheme with deliberately ambitious growth targets and My
Money Matters have been instrumental in helping us not only achieve those but exceed them.”
- Niall Silvestro from Aberdeenshire Council
To learn more about how My Money Matters can support your employees on
their journey to financial freedom, visit www.my-money-matters.co.uk today.
Any questions? Reach out at info@my-money-matters.co.uk.
