The Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA) data shows that 7.5 million Kenyans are actively saving for retirement, with many contributing to multiple pension schemes through employer-sponsored schemes, Government-backed schemes or individual pension schemes.

Keeping track of projected benefits, contribution history, and fund performance across different schemes can be challenging for these members. Without a centralised view, managing retirement savings requires navigating different platforms, statements and customer service portals.

The global pensions landscape is changing and offering solutions to savers on multiple retirement benefits schemes, enhancing pension communication by making information readily available and easy to understand.

According to a recent OECD Pensions Outlook report, pension dashboards, an online tool which lets people view information about their pensions in one place, offers a game-changing solution by consolidating all pension information into a single, user-friendly platform.

With real-time access to their savings, members can build a greater sense of individual control and ownership.   This not only enhances communication between pension schemes and members but also increases engagement, empowering members to take a more active role in planning for their future.

The report draws on best practices from OECD countries that can inform the design and development of individual pension dashboards in Kenya.  Several OECD countries have developed individual pension dashboards to provide a centralised source of information for individuals to see the pensions that they have accumulated from multiple sources on a single platform.

In the United Kingdom, the ongoing development of the pension dashboard seeks to help people understand their pensions and prepare for financial security in later life.

The introduction of pensions auto-enrolment in 2012 requires employers to enrol employees to a workplace pension scheme, increasing the number of schemes that employees have at retirement.

The UK has also pointed to the shift from defined benefits schemes to defined contribution pension schemes expanding the people’s decision-making responsibility.

The functionalities offered by an individual pension dashboard vary across different countries surveyed for the report, and are linked to the purpose for which it is developed in the context of the design of the pension system.

In Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Latvia and the Netherlands, pension dashboards include information on accrued rights from public pensions, with some dashboards allowing individuals to manage their accounts.

These international examples offer lessons that Kenya can adopt in the implementation of individual pension dashboards, including the functionality, design and development.

The tools can improve the provision of information and increase awareness about pensions and retirement income even among Kenyans outside the retirement savings sector.

The pension sub-sector report by FinAccess and the RBA shows that the country has as a 26 per cent coverage of the labour force, meaning about three-quarters of workers are not yet covered by a pension scheme.

The report cites lack of information as a barrier to pension access, with the findings suggesting a need for better communication and more flexible products.

Individual pension dashboards can allow Kenyans to have a full view of the retirement income they can expect to receive from occupational schemes, public pensions and personal pensions.