In June 2026, pensions minister Torsten Bell said that self-employed pension savings in the UK were a “catastrophe”.
Speaking at The Investment and Savings Alliance (TISA) Annual Retirement Conference, Bell said that the increase in overall pension participation has been “a triumph” in the last 14 years. But the headline figures mask glaring issues for some earners, he said, pointing out that “for those who only have a self-employed income, 4% are now saving into a pension”, as Pensions Age reports.
Even if your self-employed clients are paying into a pension at the moment, this does not mean they are necessarily safe from retirement hardship.
Self-employed high earners are still at risk of falling short in retirement
Your self-employed clients may present some of the most interesting, and much-needed, financial planning opportunities.
They may have huge earnings potential, but their finances are likely to be more disorganised and require much more intense oversight than an employed person of the same wealth level.
For instance, a senior barrister earning hundreds of thousands a year in private fees is likely to be in a very different financial situation to a director-level employee of an established firm, even if they make the same amount on paper.
Often, high-earning self-employed individuals:
- Are time-poor
- Have flexible earnings
- Are career-focused
- Are unsure when they’ll retire
- Assume they’ll be OK as they earn plenty.
This isn’t the case for everyone, but if you have clients who fit these criteria, they may be in need of coaching to draw their attention to their later-life prospects. Their high earnings are unlikely to be enough if they are not actively engaging with their retirement plan.
Moving from employment to self-employment can potentially lead to changes in pension contribution levels
You probably have clients who have:
- Started their own business after a fruitful employed career
- Phased into retirement and are consulting or freelancing part-time
- Become self-employed partners in a firm they were once employed by.
If this transition has happened later in life, they may assume they’re set for retirement or need not bother continuing to pay into a pension.
However, an Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) study, published in 2026, found that after moving from employment to self-employment, more than 75% of respondents were no longer participating in their private pension.
Oddly, the total contribution rate for those who kept paying in actually rose from 8% to around 10%.
From this study, we can safely assume that:
- Actively paying into a pension is much harder than simply paying in via auto-enrolment or salary sacrifice. It must be a conscious choice – and such a choice requires the discipline to delay gratification and plan years, or even decades, ahead.
- For those who do focus on retirement savings when becoming self-employed, there is a clear dedication to allocating significant funds to their pension.
As an adviser, part of your relationship with your clients should be holding them accountable. Keeping self-employed clients on task and reminding them of their retirement goals in your newsletters, phone conversations, and, of course, your annual reviews, could be the antidote to the self-employed pension problem.
Self-employed clients may now be saving for retirement. But they could have missed their head start
Finally, you may find that your self-employed clients have actually been diligent in saving and investing for the future. But if they missed those crucial early years – particularly if they’re Gen X or baby boomers, neither of whom benefited from auto-enrolment at the beginning of their working years – they may still be facing a retirement shortfall.
As a result, it may be the case that they need to overcompensate now for what they missed out on previously.
You will be able to gauge the need for this with your individual clients. As a bottom line, your self-employed clients must take stock of their overall financial position, understand what they own and how it’s growing, and not rely on assumptions in a way that their employed peers with a straightforward career path might.
Work with our award-winning network
At Corbel Partners, we want you to run your business your way.
Get in touch to learn how we could support you and your firm.
Email hello@corbelpartners.co.uk or call 01925 637891 to find out more about joining us.
Please note
This article is for general information only and does not constitute advice.
The information within the newsletter was correct as of 20/10/2026.
A pension is a long-term investment not normally accessible until age 55 (57 from April 2028 unless the plan has a protected pension age).