Pride Month and pension advice inclusivity

June marks the celebration of LGBTQ+ Pride Month every year, with over 50 years having passed since the UK’s first Pride march in 1972.

Despite major societal progression with regard to LGBTQ+ rights, the month and its message remain as important as ever in 2023.

After all, at its core, Pride Month is all about championing community, diversity and inclusivity, celebrating love in all its forms, and commemorating the progress that has been made to fight discrimination and secure LGBTQ+ rights.

And at My Pension Expert, we see Pride Month as an opportunity to highlight the importance of diversity, inclusion and accessibility for the LGBTQ+ community within the pensions sector.

Our ethos on the matter is simple: independent financial advice should be for everyone, regardless of background, sexuality or gender identity, and we are taking steps forward every day to ensure this is the case.

Improving the LGBTQ+ community’s access to advice

At My Pension Expert, as part of our allyship with the LGBTQ+ community, we strive to make seeking financial advice a simple, stress-free and inclusive experience for everyone. With the community facing several unique additional challenges when it comes to pension planning, this becomes even more vital to consider.

Examples of such challenges include previous uncomfortable and discriminatory experiences seeking advice and a lack of understanding from financial advisers about unique LGBT+ financial issues. In addition, LGBTQ+ professionals are, on average, paid 16% less than their straight colleagues.

One of our many policies to promote inclusivity is to ensure all our advice is accessible and free from complex jargon. Another way we ensure the accessibility of our appointments for clients is by offering advice via online appointments, allowing clients to experience our services from the comfort of their home.

What’s more, we take the time to listen and understand a person’s individual financial circumstances, needs, and retirement ambitions. Through this exercise, we are truly able to understand the needs of our clients and can curate a bespoke retirement plan, which suits their current financial needs, as well as their future goals.

While Pride Month is an important time to highlight inclusivity, at My Pension Expert, we understand it is important to foster it every day through inclusive services and practices. We continually strive to champion inclusivity and learn from the LGBTQ+ community how to best support underserved communities through our services.