Is it really the fact that they can access their pensions at 55 which is leading so many to stop work sooner rather than later? Not from our experience on this side of the advice fence. In fact, those that do go early are unlikely to dip into their pensions and generally have either other savings, resources or motivations. Such as the chance to do their own thing, to become a kept person (with a happier-in-their-job partner as breadwinner) or an inheritance which tips the balance. Most do still think of their pensions as old-fashioned, not-so-free pensions which they still keep for their old-fashioned retirement age. At which time those pension freedoms really do become a good thing. So however much thinking you do in that tank, there’s no easy fix for those ‘workplace issues’.
“Annuity rates soar to 14-year high”
I was asked this week whether annuities are now ‘a good investment’. They’ve been recommended very rarely in recent years, since ‘pension freedoms’ allowed pretty much unlimited drawdown on pension funds and anything left to be passed on to beneficiaries free of Inheritance Tax.
