The research, which questioned a 250 strong panel of financial advisers, revealed that for 61%, pension freedom changes were the top issue they had been dealing with over the past year, followed by investment planning (44%) and IHT planning (22%).
When it comes to the issues advisers are covering tied to pension freedoms, investment advice regarding income drawdown tops the list of queries. This is followed by advice on whether to give up safeguarded benefits in order to gain access to pension freedoms (38%), whether to opt for a guaranteed income such as guaranteed drawdown or an annuity (35%), and how and when to make additional pension contributions (26%).
Common issues clients are raising regarding the pension freedoms:
Investment advice regarding income drawdown 48%
Advice on whether to give up safeguarded benefits in order to access pension freedoms 38%
Whether to opt for a guaranteed income such as guaranteed drawdown or annuity 35%
How and when to make additional pension contributions 26%
When they should access their pension savings 17%
Whether to take all their pension savings as cash 11%
Steven Cameron, Regulatory Strategy Director at Aegon UK commented: “The pension freedoms have presented those at retirement with welcome new choices on how to access their savings, but they’ve come hand in hand with greater complexity. Some decisions like transferring from a Defined Benefit scheme, can only be made with professional financial advice. Others such as choosing between guaranteed drawdown and an annuity, or deciding where to invest assets are important decisions, can also have huge impacts on people’s retirement income, and should be supported by the insight that professional advice provides. With the Treasury due to announce its initial conclusions from the Financial Advice Market Review (FAMR) around the Budget, we have a real opportunity to find ways of extending valuable advice to a wider range of customers grappling with retirement choices.”
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