DC members want flexible retirement pots

Pension investments should be arranged to allow savers to use their funds how they want to, said 87% of 1,456 respondents aged 55 and over.

The finding is compounded by more than half of savers saying they have not yet decided how they will access their pots to take advantage of the pension freedoms.

The survey, carried out in April, found 19% would opt to cash out, while 15% would use a drawdown service, assuming they had also taken the 25% tax free lump sum withdrawal. Another 11% would move the funds into an external savings account such as an ISA, and just 7% would buy an annuity.

Most respondents (88%) also said they wanted their pension to include flexibility around their retirement date. Another 43% said they would only know how they intend to use their pot within a year of retirement.

However, 9% of respondents also said they were not aware of the introduction of pension freedoms in April 2015. Another 53% were aware of the change in rules, but did not understand how this would affect them.

Product and technical manager Billy Wheeler said: "These findings back up a need for flexibility in the management of member DC funds; members generally don't know when they are going to retire, or what they will do with their monies at retirement."

The research also found savers with retirement pots worth over £50,000 would consider using a drawdown product provided by the trust, rather than transferring out at retirement.

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• Topics
• Defined Contribution
• The Pensions Trust
• TPT
• DC
• flexibilities
• Retirement Flexibilities
• HR