Competition to rename 'pensions'
Updated on 21 November 2009
An insurance company has launched a competition to find a new name for pensions after research showed one in five people found the term off-putting.
Axa said just 4% of people liked the word pension, while 18% associated it with grey and one in 10 said they thought the term was too old fashioned.
Young people were most likely to be put off by the word pension, with 72% saying they associated it with old age.
Elaine Higgleton, editorial director at Collins English Dictionaries, said: "The word pension is part of the fabric of British life, but clearly some younger people are finding it off-putting.
"I'm not sure why - perhaps they associate it with a period of life that is just too far off for them to think about. Perhaps it's the association with pensioner, meaning an elderly person.
"Whatever the reason, the word pension does not seem to be encouraging people to save for the future, and a new name might give pensions a new image."
Axa has teamed up with Collins English Dictionaries to find a new word or phrase for pensions.
People can submit suggestions at www.axa.co.uk/mybudgetday between Monday November 23 and Thursday November 26, after which a shortlist of five potential names will be selected.
The public can vote on the shortlist and the winning name will be announced on Sunday December 6.
The creator of the new name for pensions will win £4,953, the equivalent of a year's state pension for a single person.
These news feeds are provided by an independent third party and Channel 4 is not responsible or liable to you for the same.
