New research commissioned by 7IM shows almost 1 in 3(32%) UK retirees would make different financial decisions about their retirement pots if they could go through the process all over again.
The survey of 505 fully or semi-retired UK adults aged 55 and over, which was conducted by Cicero/amo earlier this year, set out to gain a clearer understanding of the issues impacting the at- and in-retirement market in the UK.
One of the stand-out findings came in response to the question ‘if you were to go through retirement again, would you make the same decisions or take a different approach to your retirement income planning?’ Almost a third (32%), said they would change some of the decisions they made at retirement:
- 30% would ensure they have greater guarantees on their income
- 20% would take less from their savings in cash upfront
- 20% would look for a tax-efficient approach
- 19% would opt for greater flexibility
A series of in-depth interviews with financial advisers was run alongside the survey to ensure all angles were covered. 7IM is poring over both sets of findings and will be sharing the results with the advisers and its peers to ensure as an industry the key learnings are taken on board to help drive better client outcomes.
Commenting on the findings, Verona Kenny, Managing Director, Intermediary at 7IM said:
“We can do better for clients to ensure that they have greater retirement income flexibility. As an industry we need to respond to this feedback, we need to innovate and get it together for clients. The number of clients who would make different choices suggests that as an industry we still haven’t got it together to offer robust, yet flexible, solutions that deliver the right outcomes for advisers and their clients. It also clearly shows that advisers have the toughest role to play with their clients – being the trusted financial expert and also managing all the behaviour elements when it comes to retirement planning. As product providers and platforms, we need to work harder to deliver flexible solutions to advisers for their clients.”
“Worryingly, our research shows that the number of those expressing regret at the decisions made increases as the age of the retirees decreased, potentially an indicator that needs and expectations are changing more rapidly than many may assume, especially for younger retirees.”
“If, as an industry, we fail to bring about the change people want, how many of the next generation of retirees will have regrets? We need to get it together as an industry to really deliver for clients the income solutions they need in retirement. And I don’t mean one provider delivering one hot new product, but as an industry delivering together.”
