With the Pension Attention campaign back in full swing for its third year, Pensions Age chats with this year's spokespeople, reality TV star, Gemma Collins, and money expert, Iona Bain, about the lessons they've taken away from the campaign.

So, can you tell us a bit more about what you already knew about pensions before joining the Pay Your Pension Some Attention campaign?

Iona Bain: As the resident money expert at BBC Morning Live and a governor at the Pension Policy Institute, pensions is a topic I’m really comfortable with. Over the years, I’ve shared lots of advice to help people engage with their pension and feel more confident about retirement.

Gemma Collins: If I’m honest, I’ve never really thought much about my pension until this campaign. I’ve done a ton of jobs from a young age, so I would’ve racked up some sort of pension, but I wasn’t aware of how I could trace it all until I did this campaign.

And has the campaign prompted you to take a closer look at your pension? If so, have you had any surprises or taken any action as a result?

Collins: I know I’m getting older, so I realised I need to knuckle down and sort my pension out so I can have my dream GC retirement.

Bain: For years, I’ve shared financial advice about how to manage your pension so it’s something I’ve always known is important. I probably don’t have enough saved for retirement at this point, but this campaign really hammered home the need to stay proactive and consistent with your pension contributions.

With your experience having worked on the campaign, what would be your one tip for others?

Collins: Get the ball rolling today. It doesn’t matter how much you earn – think about your pension and plan for the future. We always feel like we have plenty of time, but we just don’t. We all work hard so you deserve to have a pot at the end of it but to get that, you do have to start and get your skates on.

Bain: My tip would be that if you can save something, it’s better than nothing. The majority of us are contributing to a workplace pension but most people don’t know how much we have or where our previous pension pots are. So, find out how much money you have saved in your pension and see whether you can contribute more, whether that’s yourself or by asking your employer to match contributions. Every small step counts!

And what is the most common comment or question you’ve had from friends and family since being announced as the voices behind the Pension Attention megaphone?

Collins: Well, a lot of people say they’d never, ever expected me to be the face of the Pension Attention campaign but it’s got a lot of people talking, even my friends have started talking about what you have to do now to get it sorted for later.

Bain: Since doing this campaign and telling people about it, people have become very quickly fascinated about what they can do to better manage their pension. Someone recently came up to me, wanting help with their pension, saying they wish they knew about how important their pension was in their twenties and how they would’ve done things differently. It goes to show that when people engage with their pensions, they do become genuinely interested and want to make positive changes.

You both come from self-employed backgrounds, how, if at all, has this impacted how you approach to pensions and financial planning, as well as to the campaign message itself?

Bain: I spent a lot of my twenties freelancing and building up my income but that has also meant that now that I’m self-employed, I’ve had to play catch up and contribute more to my pension pot. It’s never too late, or early, to start paying your pension some attention and that’s what I really love about the campaign’s message.

Collins: Like me, I’ve got mates in the industry who are self-employed and don’t have a pension. So, this campaign is a wake-up call to get everyone to get one set up and put money in it. I’m going to be really careful now in terms of what I put towards my pension and what I use as my income.

What would you like to see from the campaign next year?

Bain: I think the Pension Attention campaign has done a great job of coming up with fun and fresh themes so I would love to see what else they can come up with.

Collins: I am all ready to pick up the megaphone again to get the message out there again – I have loved working on this campaign. Pensions are so important if you want to live your best life later – and really don’t get talked about enough.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, which would you rather – the world’s best pension, or the world’s best anti-ageing cream?

Collins: Usually, I’d go for the best anti-ageing cream but since this campaign, I’d have to say the world’s best pension. I’ve been working since I was 13 so I want to have the best retirement – with a bit of GC-luxury, of course.

Bain: Like Gemma, I still have some way to go before my pension is ready for the retirement I want so I definitely want the world’s best pension too. Maybe I can then live like Gemma Collins!

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