Pensions - Articles - Urgent need for better at retirement support


The FCA has today published new data for 2023/24 on the retirement income market, showing how consumer behaviour at retirement is changing in terms of choice between annuity / drawdown/ full encashment, the use of financial advice, and the latest data on DB to DC transfers.

 Key results are:
 Although annuities remain far less popular than drawdown or cashing out in full, annuities sales rose sharply, from 59,163 to 82,061 – up 39%;
  
 Take up of drawdown also increased, by 28%, from 218,183 to 278,977;
  
 Full encashment remained the most popular option, especially for smaller pension pots; around 470,000 pots were taken out in full in 2023/24, up from around 420,000 in the previous year; however, a slightly smaller percentage of pots were cashed out in full compared with previous years – around 53% in the latest year compared with around 57% in 2022/23.
  
 Use of financial advice declined slightly, from 32.9% in 22/23 to 30.9% in 23/24; this means that more than two in three at-retirement decisions are taken without advice;
  
 The volume of DB transfers slumped again, with just 7,181 transfers in the most recent year compared to 18,080 in 22/23.

 Commenting, Steve Webb said: “These figures show that we still have a very long way to go on the DC savings journey. Most savers build up relatively small pots and cash them out in full, and we urgently need to get to the stage where pots are large enough to take gradually over retirement. The drop in use of financial advice increases the need for the FCA to complete its review of the boundary between financial advice and ‘guidance’. Hundreds of thousands of people take their pensions each year with no advice, and much more needs to be done to help them make well-informed decisions”
  

Back to Index


Similar News to this Story

4 ways completing a tax return can help boost your pension
Missing the Self-Assessment deadline not only risks a penalty for late filing but could cost individuals hundreds, if not thousands of pounds in uncla
DWP holds AE thresholds with GBP90bn of pensions expected
The DWP has issued its review of the Automatic Enrolment Earnings Trigger and Qualifying Earnings Band for 2025/26, retaining all three thresholds at
Response to Triple Lock means testing comments
Aegon has called for ‘a future focused debate on a sustainable state pension’ following comments on the Triple Lock by Conservative leader Kemi Badeno

Site Search

Exact   Any  

Latest Actuarial Jobs

Actuarial Login

Email
Password
 Jobseeker    Client
Reminder Logon

APA Sponsors

Actuarial Jobs & News Feeds

Jobs RSS News RSS

WikiActuary

Be the first to contribute to our definitive actuarial reference forum. Built by actuaries for actuaries.