The Association of British Insurers (ABI) thinks education and advice, especially in the workplace, are the key to closing Britain's £27bn savings gap, according to a new report.
The ABI report published yesterday, Workplace Advice - a discussion document, outlines its proposals on how this gap can be bridged.
The report is expected to fuel debate on how workplace advice can best be provided and includes several key findings.
It states that 75% of employers already provide their staff with access to financial information or advice and 42% would like to do more.
Employers cited employee apathy and concerns about appropriateness as the reasons for not providing more advice than they do.
However, 70% of employees said they would like more workplace support.
Around 50% of employers indicated that help from the government, an agency or a financial service company would make them more likely to provide advice, while 40% said a tax break would make them more likely to act
The head of pensions at the ABI, Joanne Segars, said: "It is clear that advice is essential to encourage people to take positive steps to save and so close the savings gap. The workplace provides the ideal environment for making information and advice available to the mass market.
"The report and the discussion provide us with a useful platform from which we can develop new models for the delivery of advice in the workplace."
The report was issued at a roundtable discussion on the ways that workplace advice can be made more widely available within small to medium businesses.
The event was attended by representatives from the insurance industry, the FSA, the government and employers.