MoneyMarketing.co.uk

Savers withdrew £6.5bn using the pension freedoms in 2017 according to data from HM Revenue and Customs.

This is nearly £1bn more compared to 2016 when £5.7bn was taken out of pension savings.

On a quarterly basis, nearly 200,000 people took payments from their pension totalling £1.5bn in the fourth quarter of 2017 which is slightly lower than £1.59bn taken out during the third quarter of 2017.

The total amount of money withdrawn since the pension freedoms started in April 2015 stands at £15.7bn.

The data from HMRC covers “flexible payments” from pensions, which include full or partial withdrawals, flexible drawdown and buying a flexible annuity.

Commenting on today’s figures Just Group group communications director Stephen Lowe says pension freedoms are well-established but the sustainability of withdrawal rates is unknown.

He says: “Savers are enjoying the flexibility of being able to exercise greater choice about how to use their pension savings. More than £6.5bn was withdrawn last year, up 15 per cent from 2016, and there’s a school of thought that says that much money can’t be wrong.”

However, he adds: “But the truth is we don’t know – the industry still has little idea whether these savings are being used sustainably.”

Hargreaves Lansdown senior pensions analyst Nathan Long suggests the fall in the amount withdrawn in the fourth quarter could be evidence of prudence among retirees.

He says: “Rather than use pensions to splurge on an extravagant Christmas, retirees have operated restraint when managing their pensions showing the new rules are bedding in nicely and the amount being withdrawn is stabilising.

“The number of payments made has increased, but this is simply a reflection of more and more people using drawdown for their income in retirement.”

He adds: “The fact the rate of growth is slowing actually shows that the dash for cash is abating and retirees are facing up to managing their pension pot to provide for their life after work.”

Moneymarketing.co.uk

Savers have accessed a total of £9.2bn through pension freedoms since the reforms were announced, with around £1.6bn taken from pension pots in the last three months.

Figures published by HM Revenue & Customs show a total of 516,000 payments were made from pension pots between April 2015 and March 2016, and over one million payments were made between April 2016 and the end of last year.

The number of individuals accessing their pension on a quarterly basis has almost doubled from 84,000 in the three months to June 2015 to 162,000 as at the end of 2016.

The data from HMRC covers “flexible payments” from pensions, which include full or partial withdrawals, flexible drawdown and buying a flexible annuity.

The Treasury says guidance service Pension Wise has had over 3.7 million visits to the website and carried out over 100,000 appointments since pension freedoms was introduced in April 2015.

Treasury economic secretary Simon Kirby says: “Giving people freedom over what they do with their hard-earned savings, whether it’s buying an annuity or taking a cash lump sum, is the right thing to do.

Yahoo finance
New FCA data shows just 13pc of savers are choosing to turn their pot into a guaranteed income via an annuity
Nearly nine in ten savers accessing their retirement pots under the pension freedoms are using new flexible arrangements, new data has revealed.
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) shows just 13pc of savers are now buying annuities to turn their fund into an income in retirement.
• Pension freedoms: 2.2m face charges to access money
• £17m a day withdrawn under new pension freedoms
A total of 178,990 pensions were accessed during the three-month period, and 68pc of these, amounting to 120,969 pensions, were fully encashed.
The remaining 32pc of pensions that were accessed were taken to provide an income.
Most (88pc) of the pensions where the money was fully taken out were worth less than £30,000, the FCA said. Another worrying trend is for the majority of consumers continue not to shop around for the best deals, despite the clear benefits of doing so.
Concerns were raised about the number of people not taking financial advice, or using the Government’s Pension Wise service.

A report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) identifies Britain’s state pension as one of the world’s least generous, paying out on average of 38 per cent of what a recipient earned. Across 34 countries, only Mexico and Chile are more miserly. Even the Government’s “triple lock” policy, which raises the state pension by whichever is highest of inflation, earnings growth or 2.5 per cent, fails to find favour with the OECD. However, countries around the world are struggling to maintain the value of state pensions, and the chances that any of them will be able to sustain current levels with people living longer are slim.
telegraph.co.uk

Most people will be better off gradually withdrawing cash from their pension pots rather than buying an annuity to fund retirement – unless they expect to live well beyond 85, according to a new study.

Annuity rates are at an historic low and the forecast is for this to continue, according to Cass. If you die young the annuity dies with you and so you risk wasting your money by annuitising too early.

With careful management, pension pots of £100,000-plus should not run dry until at least the age of 80 or even older – and longer if you opt for flexible rather than fixed withdrawals, says the Cass Business School research.

It says that annuities often prove poor value and that savers should be able to make pension pots last, especially if they seek professional advice.

Dailymail.co.uk

Money makeover: Max Loosli, 60, needs a precision plan to spend his entire pension in his lifetime – without running out of cash first. New “pension freedoms” introduced this year mean that, for the first time, savers such as the Loosli’s are now able to access their pensions as cash, without paying punitive rates of tax.

Telegraph.co.uk

Many feared savers would blow their retirement savings when new freedom rules were introduced, with then pensions minister Steve Webb declaring he was relaxed about people blowing it on Lamborghinis should they so wish.
However, the ABI says retirees are taking a ‘common sense approach.’

Dailymail.co.uk

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The Cash Retirement Account, which is a low risk fixed term secured drawdown plan, is designed for those who wish to access their pension savings in a cost effective and flexible manner using the new post-April pension flexibility. It is aimed at low risk investors and only invests in cash deposits with Banks, Building Societies and with National Savings and Investments, so there is no exposure to any investment risk.

The Investment is protected at all times as all deposit takers on the panel are fully authorised to do business in UK by the Financial Conduct Authority and are 100% covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. The mixture of cash deposit accounts are selected so that the interest earned is maximised and mature in time to provide the required benefits. The amounts invested, including interest earned, do not exceed £75,000 with any single bank or building society, thus offering 100% protection at all time.

For more information about Assured Retirement’s product offering please go to their website, www.assuredretirement.co.uk

Assured Retirement present at Westminster and City Retirement Income Options Conference
Assured Retirement have been invited to speak at the Westminster and City 19th Annual Conference on Annuities and Drawdown, a two day event on 25th and 26th November 2015, London Marriott, Canary Wharf, london, E14 4ED

UK.finance.yahoo
Its research showed on average pensioners earn £394 a week compared to the £385 median among the working age population