Investment - Articles - Digital retirement planner to help plug pension freedoms gap

 Scottish Widows designed the consumer-friendly Retirement Planning digital portal following research which found a third of people (33%) have no idea of the extent to which their pension, savings and investments will meet retirement needs, almost a quarter of 55-65 year-olds won’t seek any guidance or advice and almost one in five (17%) said it was because they were unsure where to look.

  

 The new interactive site includes a five-step guide to help consumers through the retirement journey as more than eight million* aged 55-65 in the UK will be the first to face new pension freedoms from 6th April.
 It includes a Pension Options Calculator which allows people to input figures for the different options, as well as a range of tax calculators to help customers understand the implications of taking cash, as well as explanatory videos. The site encourages people to shop around, make use of the Government’s Pension Wise service and promotes the benefits of good financial advice.

  

 Robert Cochran, retirement expert at Scottish Widows, said:

 “People are not being forced to make a decision on the 6th April. For many there is still a lack of understanding and certainty about what the changes actually mean.

  

 “Our research told us 40% of people felt online tools would be most useful as a source of information and the digital Retirement Planner is an interactive way to help people build a clearer picture of their retirement choices, and 170,000 hits in three weeks tells us that not only are users benefiting from the information, but that we can expect these numbers to increase as pensions D-day approaches.”www.scottishwidows.co.uk/retirement-planner