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04

Face-to-face guidance preferred option for pension advice

Open-access content Wednesday 16th April 2014 — updated 5.13pm, Wednesday 29th April 2020

More than two-thirds of pension savers want the free pension advice promised by the government to be delivered face-to-face by a qualified professional, a survey has revealed

Research firm Consumer Intelligence polled over 1,000 UK adults aged 40+ who currently have a private pension asking what type of personal guidance would be the most attractive.

Results show that 69% of retirement savers want their options set out in a formal session with a qualified adviser. Almost one-quarter (24%) would be willing to use online services as long as there was human help available too. And just 3% would be willing to rely solely on online help. 

On average, pension savers would be willing to travel 11.4 miles for face-to-face guidance with only 8% happy to travel more than 25 miles. 

David Black, a banking expert with the firm, said: 'Decisions about retirement income are ones that people literally have to live with so it is clear that people want to take them seriously.

'Face-to-face guidance is by far the preferred option for the free advice proposed by the government with most willing to travel to ensure they get as much help exploring their options as possible.'

The survey also found that two-thirds of respondents plan to use most or all of their pension fund for retirement income once changes to pension rules take effect next year. A quarter (26%) said they would keep a small nest egg for retirement and spend the rest, 5% said they planned to spend it all and rely on the state pension and 3% said they would spend it all because they had other sources of income.

Black added: 'It does appear that claims about people blowing all their cash on Lamborghinis are not going to come true. Most people realise that they will be retired for a long time and that they will need to ensure that they have enough income to last.'

Following last month's Budget, consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers warned that face-to-face guidance could cost as much as £120m and suggested that pension scheme members would end up footing the bill in higher member charges.


This article appeared in our April 2014 issue of The Actuary.
Click here to view this issue
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