Pensions Awareness Ireland is today launching Ali, Ireland’s first AI Retirement Coach, to give workers greater clarity and insight into their retirement planning.
The announcement marks the beginning of Pensions Awareness Week (PAW26), a campaign to help people take charge of their long-term savings, which runs from September 21-25.
PAW’s AI Retirement Coach can help workers understand whether their pension pot target is likely to support their desired retirement lifestyle.
It provides a safe, judgement-free space in which users can explore their options and understand what changes they may need to make to improve their long-term financial outlook.
Pension Awareness Week this year asks people to ‘Know Your Number’, which is the size of the pension pot they should target to generate the annual income needed to support the retirement lifestyle they want. They are being urged to compare this figure with what they are currently on track to achieve and understand the steps needed to bridge any gap.
By entering their age, planned retirement age, annual gross income, and monthly pension contributions, the AI tool quickly builds a dashboard breaking down their retirement income forecast and pension details.
Dashboard users will then receive an invitation to join a conversation with Ali. Ali is an AI Retirement Coach trained on the Irish pensions system. It is programmed to provide tailored responses in a natural way based on the user’s dashboard.
The AI Retirement Coach is the first tool of its kind in the Irish pensions industry. It offers people in Ireland insight on their pension plans without feeling embarrassed or judged about their level of knowledge or preparedness for retirement.
Not all the conversations for PAW26 are virtual, however. Founder member Moneycube.ie will be visiting companies around Ireland throughout the week, delivering a series of workplace consultations. These are aimed at helping employers engage with their employees to plan and save for retirement to build financial wellbeing.
The Moneycube.ie team will follow events in Galway city and Limerick on September 17 and 18 with events in Cork today (September 21), Dublin on September 23, and Kilkenny and Laois on September 24.
Feargal McKenna, Head of Corporate at Moneycube.ie, says:
“Conversations about retirement are hard. So talk to Ali.
“Most people understand that they need to save for retirement. The hard question is whether they are saving enough to give them the lifestyle they want. That lack of visibility can make retirement planning feel complicated and offputting.
“The AI Retirement Coach is designed to change that. Ali enables people to explore what their forecast means for their own circumstances and the changes they could make in a judgement-free digital space. The aim is to turn retirement planning from something abstract and uncertain into something people can understand, talk about, and take action on.”