Millennial savings app Plum moves into pensions
The popular savings app which has turned to TikTok to lure young investors is now turning its attention to retirement savings.
Plum, which launched in 2017, is rivaling the cheap trading apps like Robinhood by moving into the investment space.
It anticipated a growing interest among millennials around savings and investments with which has only accelerated during the pandemic.
Plum launched an investment product around a year and a half and has tripled the amount of investors on the app since last January, founder Victor Trokoudes told City PM in March . He said Plum is on track for 3m UK customers by the end of the year.
Now Plum is expanding into retirement savings with the launch of its first pension product. Plum says the subscription-free ‘Six Step SIPP’ will “get a new generation engaged with their lifetime finances”.
Self-invested personal pensions offer the extra benefit of tax relief, as once money is invested it can grow free from capital gains tax and income tax.
Customers will benefit from Plum’s existing savings algorithm, which tucks away as much as they can afford and splits the cash between savings, investments and pensions.
Customers can choose from funds that are risk-managed according to their current age and remaining years to retirement.
The move into retirement savings comes at a critical time. Bank of England figures show around £100bn extra was saved last year, with a number of people looking to use this money to build a longer-term cash pot.
“We’ve seen a lot of changes in the UK over the last decade. On the good side, auto-enrolment means millions of us now have made a start on our pensions. On the bad side, these pensions are inaccessible to the point that people forget they even have them,” Trokoudes said.
“By bringing all your pensions into one app, you can manage your SIPP easily alongside your other savings and investments, and choose where your money goes to secure your future. Our goal is that checking your pension will become as easy and natural as checking your bank balance.”