New research[1] from MGM Advantage shows the risk people are willing to take managing their own pension savings. 28% of the over-55s said they were not comfortable taking on the risk of managing their own pensions to provide a suitable income throughout retirement.

The research shows that only 26% of adults aged 55 and over are very comfortable managing their own pension savings and 41% are somewhat comfortable, while 5% don’t know.

Cause for concern
A key concern for adults aged 55 and over who aren’t comfortable managing their own pension savings is the thought of running out of money. Two thirds (69%) said running out of money in retirement is a cause for concern, while making poor choices when investing and the consequences of this were an issue for 64% of adults in this age group. One in two said budgeting for the whole of retirement is a reason to be concerned, as is assessing how long they would live and therefore need to plan for.

Maximise pension savings
From this research we can see that although many people are comfortable managing their own money to provide a suitable income throughout retirement, almost one in three are not. People approaching retirement will have to make some crucial decisions about how they can maximise the pension savings they have. With the welcome increased choice and flexibility comes more complexity. This is where receiving financial advice will be key.

Source:
[1] All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc.  Total sample size was 2,470 UK adults aged 18+ of which 908 were adults aged 55 and over. Fieldwork was undertaken between 24-25 March 2014.  The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults (aged 18+).