From retirement values to retirement design.
A questionnaire can tell you what people say matters. PenFit determines what those preferences mean for retirement design while keeping proprietary scoring and calibration detail under the bonnet.
Paired comparisons capture relative importance, not a product choice.
The full pattern and strength of answers is interpreted rather than simply counted.
Values are translated into product-neutral features a retirement design can deliver.
Static, mixed and staged designs are assessed consistently.
Alignment and remaining compromise are turned into individual and population insight.
The 12 retirement values
These describe what an individual may care about. Each appears twice in the connected questionnaire structure.
Having enough pension income to support the life you want.
Knowing what income to expect and avoiding large unwanted changes.
Income continuing however long you live.
Retaining capital, getting at money when needed and preserving future choices.
Resources for later life, family, personal control, manageable decisions and upside potential.
The 13 retirement characteristics
These describe what a retirement design can actually deliver. Similar-sounding values and characteristics are deliberately kept conceptually separate.
The six design archetypes
They are generic retirement approaches used to make the value exchange visible — not individual products or recommendations.
Flexible Income
Retain invested capital and access, accepting investment and longevity risk.
Secure Income
Prioritise lifetime security and predictability, giving up much of the capital access and reversibility.
Target Income
Aim for a target lifetime income with pooling and growth participation rather than a fixed guarantee.
Flexible and Secure Income Mix
Combine some secure lifetime income with an accessible invested element.
Flexible Income then Secure Income Later
Keep flexibility earlier, then make a substantial securing decision later.
Flexible Income with Secure Income Build-Up
Retain flexibility while progressively increasing the secure-income component over time.
Timing and path dependency matter.
The same end position can have a different value depending on when decisions are made and whether they can be reversed. PenFit therefore treats staged choices and difficult-to-undo decisions explicitly rather than assuming retirement is a one-off choice at one date.