Billed as the most radical pension restructuring in a generation, sweeping Government reforms in the last Budget intended to liberate millions of people in planning for their retirement. This year, further announcements are expected which will relax existing rules.
However a staggering eight in ten adults are not aware of some of the basic facts behind the radical changes which will be coming into force this April. To gauge public understanding of the planned reforms almost a year after they were first announced, Octopus polled a nationally representative sample of over 2,000 adults, presenting them with a series statements about the pensions changes and asking them to identify which were true. While all statements were, in fact, completely accurate, the number of people who identified them to be true was alarmingly low – and this continued to be prevalent among the over 55 age group who were those closest to retirement age.
Simon Rogerson, CEO of Octopus Investments said:
“The upcoming pensions revolution is the biggest shake up in terms of financial planning that Britain has seen for decades. On the back of this, the Chancellor looks set today to hand even more control back to even more people, unlocking a range of options for retirement for a huge number of people.
These reforms are far reaching and have implications on financial planning not just for those approaching retirement but for generations to come. However our findings show that the vast majority of the public are simply not clear on many of the basic changes that underpin these reforms, including the fact that that they can seek guidance on the different choices now open to them.
While we welcome announcements that give people more flexibility with their retirement planning, it’s clear that both Government and the financial services industry still have a lot of work to do to help people really understand what the changes mean for them and close the knowledge gap that this research has highlighted. It is time for people to seize the opportunity the Government has presented and take action, seek advice and start to think differently planning for their retirement.”
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