Budget 2014 creates pension confusion for a fifth of Brits

unbiased.co.uk and Prudential launch pre-retirement checklist designed to help consumers plan for their retirement .

•    20% of the nation are now more confused about their retirement income options after the Chancellor’s Budget
•    unbiased.co.uk and Prudential launch pre-retirement checklist designed to help consumers plan for their retirement
•    Nearly a third of consumers (32%) would not be confident to plan their retirement without the help of financial advice
•    Pensions planning continues to be the most sought after area of professional financial advice on unbiased.co.uk’s ‘find an adviser’ search

New research released today by unbiased.co.uk, the ‘find an adviser’ search, and Prudential, reveals a fifth (20%) of the  nation¹ are now more confused by their retirement options following the Chancellor’s Budget.

The changes announced in the Budget last month give savers more choice and flexibility when it comes to their retirement finances, but only 17% of people said they are now clearer about their retirement income options.

Retirement planning – what do you need to know?
To help resolve the nation’s confusion, unbiased.co.uk and Prudential have today launched a pre-retirement checklist to help pre-retirees ask the right questions and make the right choices when pension planning.

The checklist is a simple step-by-step guide to retirement, identifying three main stages before retirement: 10 years, 3-5 years and 6 months. It offers useful tips and actions points encouraging consumers to: question their retirement goals, look at their current expenditure, how they plan to fund their retirement and learn more about their retirement income options.

Pension guidance guarantee not the same as advice
Research from unbiased.co.uk shows nearly a third (32%) of people would not be confident in tackling their retirement planning² without the help of professional financial advice. This includes: arranging a SIPP, annuity purchases, inheritance tax planning, auto-enrolment pensions and company pensions.

Table 1: How confident would you be to tackle these areas without professional advice, simply by doing your own research?

Retirement planning has consistently been and continues to be the biggest trigger for people seeking advice, driving 40% of the financial advice areas searched on unbiased.co.uk’s ‘find an adviser’ search in the past year³.

unbiased.co.uk comments: “The changes announced recently by the government will give people more flexibility over their pension savings, but our latest research shows one in five people are now more confused about their retirement income options.  We also know that nearly two thirds of people say they would need professional financial advice before retirement.  It’s positive that the government has committed to pension guidance from 2015 and it will be important to get this guidance package right, including a clear route to advice.
 
“Our pre-retirement checklist will encourage people to start thinking about their options and take control of their financial future. If you look at current life expectancy, pre-retirees could potentially have more than 20 years in retirement, and yet they only have one chance to decide how they fund this time in retirement. This is why planning ahead and seeking professional advice is so crucial.”

Vince Smith-Hughes, Head of Business Development at Prudential comments: “The proposed changes to drawing on pension funds give people more choice as to how they can take retirement benefits. However, increased choice may mean more complexity and many people will need to seek the assistance of a professional adviser who can explain the various options and help determine what’s right for them.  

“The checklist is designed to make people start to think about some of their own retirement expectations, and to ensure that along with the aid of an adviser they are in the best possible financial shape as they approach and enter retirement.”

unbiased.co.uk, which profiles over 24,000 professional advisers on its search, holds details of over 5,900 advisory businesses specialising in retirement. For a free and confidential search for a whole of market financial adviser, visit www.unbiased.co.uk.

Download the checklist

Notes to editors:
1 Research carried out by Opinium Research on behalf of unbiased.co.uk between 1-4 April 2014 among 2,003 nationally representative UK adults aged 18+

2 Research carried out by Opinium Research on behalf of unbiased.co.uk between 8-11 October 2013 among 2,000 nationally representative UK adults aged 18+.  Retirement planning includes: SIPPs, annuity purchase, inheritance tax planning, auto-enrolment pensions, company pensions. Out of 2,000, 476 respondents are not confident in at least one of these areas while also not being confident in any. Excluding those answering “don’t know”, the base of 1,467 = 32%.

3 Pension searches on unbiased.co.uk drove 40% of the total advice areas searched from March 2013- March 2014. The site has over 1 million unique users and lists details of over 15,000 whole of market advisers, dealing with an average of 450,000 consumer searches a year.

For more information contact:

Anna Schirmer / Kate Aitchison: 020 7294 3682

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About unbiased.co.uk, the professional advice website:

unbiased.co.uk is the UK's most comprehensive free professional adviser search website, focused on empowering users with the resources they need to make better informed financial and legal decisions. We not only help consumers and businesses find the best adviser for their needs from 24,000 IFAs, financial advisers, mortgage advisers, solicitors and accountants listed on our search, but we also help them research the market by providing relevant information and tools.  At unbiased.co.uk we are transparent about what we do and provide the easiest way for consumers to find and compare advisers meeting their requirements.

The unbiased.co.uk website launched in 1998 and rapidly became the UK’s leading online destination for consumers and businesses looking to find an adviser.  Now attracting over one million visitors a year, unbiased.co.uk is the default adviser directory for consumer websites recommending their audience to ‘find an adviser’.

unbiased.co.uk has launched a new industry-facing website for the adviser community at business.unbiased.co.uk.  

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