3 myths that cause employers to postpone arranging a pension

In our conversations with employers, we notice that they often keep putting off arranging a pension. It is understandable that arranging a pension might not be your first priority. As an entrepreneur, you already have enough on your mind. But what if we told you it is much simpler and more affordable than you think? In this blog, we discuss the 3 myths that cause employers to keep postponing arranging a pension and show how easy it is to start with a pension.

Arranging a pension? We’ll do that when…

Which of the following postponement ‘excuses’ sound familiar to you? 

‍

“Yes, we definitely want to arrange a pension when we have had the next round of fundraising.” 

“Our team is not big enough yet to arrange a pension.”

“We are very busy now because of (...) once we are out of this, we can think about a pension.”

These are all very understandable and well-thought-out reasons to postpone a pension. That is why we hear them so often. You are not the only one! It is just a shame that these reasons for postponement are based on the myths of being expensive, complicated, and time-consuming. But the opposite is true. Arranging a pension actually delivers you a high ROI: it costs little time and money for what you get in return, and you bind employees to the organisation. Not unimportant as a start-up or scale-up. A pension is an important employment benefit that helps you attract and retain talent. Moreover, you help your employees plan for their future.

Let’s take a look at the myths that exist about pensions.

Myth 1: Pension is complicated

In the collective consciousness, a pension is a kind of iceberg in the water. You know it is there because you see the tip, which is a representation of the concept of a pension. But you have no idea how it works because around 80% of the iceberg is beneath the surface of the water. So, of course, you prefer to postpone arranging a pension until you finally land that one big client. Because finding out how big the iceberg is under the surface takes a lot of effort and is rather complicated. You do not just dive into the ice-cold water unprepared. But a pension is a lot less complicated than you think. It is just that pension funds have historically not been very transparent. And professional terms such as funding ratio, available scope, and pension pillars do not make it much clearer (and our government website does not always help either). We want to change this at Vive, which is why we write blogs such as this one about the pension pillars.

Myth 2: Setting up a pension takes a lot of time

News about pensions, whether it concerns negotiations (e.g., collective labour agreement negotiations) or reaching an agreement, always have something in common: long lead times. 

Take the Pension Agreement, for instance. This was reached in June 2019 after trade unions, employers, and the government had negotiated for 10! years. The elaboration of that agreement in the Future Pensions Act took another 4 years. And then we have not even mentioned setting up the pension itself. Furthermore, it really takes a long time for most traditional pension providers to set up a pension for your employees. Because this often involves drawing up whole volumes of regulations and a host of pension advisors. It is logical, therefore, that the myth that setting up a pension takes a lot of time has arisen. 

However, this does not have to be the case. With us, arranging a pension is not a lengthy, bureaucratic process. Within one working day, you can have a fully functioning pension scheme, without it costing you valuable time or energy. All you have to do is fill in a few details, meet with us once, and then we will do the rest. You can find more information about this in our blog about onboarding at Vive. 

Myth 3: Pension is expensive

Okay, let’s be honest, because you are not daft! This myth is based on a historical fact. The traditional pension was and is expensive. What makes it expensive, among other things, are the pension intermediaries who profit from myths 1 and 2 (and not to mention the administrative hassle). But a pension really does not have to be expensive. You can already start a pension scheme for a few euros per month. In addition, there are flexible options that allow you to scale up or scale down whenever you want. So you do not have to wait for the next big client or round of fundraising—you can start immediately without massively burdening your budget.

Too good to be true?

When employers hear from us that you can arrange a pension within a day for about 6 euros per employee per month, they are initially surprised and astonished. “Wow, I seriously did not know it was that easy,” we regularly hear. But also: “This sounds too good to be true.” This indicates how strongly the myths are engraved in our collective consciousness. We simply do not believe that a pension can be easy, flexible, transparent, and cheap. And yet it is true. So you do not have to postpone it until the next round of fundraising or until you are in calmer waters. And even if your employees are not asking for it yet, it is nice to have it sorted out so you can put it in your job advertisements. In addition, you genuinely make your people happy with it. So do not put off arranging a pension any longer!