Big Zuu launches music video about pensions

Musician and TV star Big Zuu has released a track about retirement saving in his role as frontman for a new financial awareness campaign.

The grime artist and BAFTA award winner, who presents the cooking show Big Zuu’s Big Eats, is urging people to dig out their old pensions and find out how much they will be worth in future.

Watch Big Zuu call on people to ‘Pay Your Pension Some Attention’ in the video below.

‘Grime and pensions have never been mentioned in the same sentence before, I’ll tell you that for free. It sounds heavy but this matters to everyone,’ says Big Zuu, who has a pension.

‘Don’t pressure yourself into thinking you have to pay more money in, it’s not about that.

‘It’s a case of finding where your pensions are so that you have a clue about your future savings. People won’t even know they have money sat there for their future from an old job.’

Big Zuu, 27, is ambassador for the Pension Attention campaign, which is led by finance industry groups the Association of British Insurers and the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association.

His involvement comes at at time when financial pressures are causing many people, particularly the younger generations, to stop contributing into pensions.

Recent research from digital pensions platform Penfold found the opt-out rate from pension schemes increased by 29 per cent between March and July.

A separate survey by wealth manager Charles Stanley found a quarter of workers have either already left their scheme or are considering doing so due to the squeeze on their budgets from rising prices.

Big Zuu says: ‘I have mates who are putting off thinking about the future, it’s hard with everything going on right now. 

‘But a bit of time spent on understanding pensions will help a lot in the future.

‘If you get the right information and make the right steps, understanding your pension is really simple and it benefits you at the end of the day. 

‘It’s your money to take care of yourself in the future – that deserves some attention.’

People are being urged to:

– Think about jobs they had in the past, check their payslips and look for old pension statements to find their old pots;

– Look into how much they might receive when they stop working using a pension calculator;

– Ask their employers and pension providers questions, or contact the free Government-backed guidance service moneyhelper.org.uk on 0800 011 3797.

Pension Attention is bankrolled by the pensions industry. Its campaigns manager, Sarah Cordey, says: ‘Paying for our lives when we’re older is an issue which matters to everyone, but we know lots of people find pensions intimidating or think they’re not relevant to them.

‘In the current climate, it’s more important than ever that we help people making difficult financial decisions do so from a position of knowledge and understanding.

‘This campaign isn’t about increasing contributions, it’s about increasing savers’ awareness and making them feel good about their pension.’

Big Zuu’s Big Eats, which has just returned for a third series on Dave, sees the musician travel the country and cook for comedians on tour, including Jimmy Carr, Katherine Ryan and Johnny Vegas.