Some 29% of participants in the research from a new white paper published by wealth management firm Sanlam, said they weren’t aware of the new pension freedoms which the government introduced in April 2015.
The Which Way Forward? report, suggested that an increasing ageing population, the demise of generous final salary schemes and the pension freedoms introduced last April were all contributing to “a radically shifting retirement landscape”.
It found 39% of over 60s admit that they were unaware of how much they currently have in their pension pot.
The qualitative research compared the attitudes of 1,000 people who have retired in the last five years with 1,000 over-60s approaching retirement.
The report indicated that fixed-age retirement has already become an outdated concept and will no longer be possible for the majority of the current working generation.
Less than 2% of pre-retirees anticipated retiring before the age of 61 and around 30% expected to still be working at 70 and beyond. Nearly half of those that were in retirement when questioned for the report had retired before the age of 61, and almost all had retired by 67.
While 43% of retirees took retirement when originally planned, 45% retired later than they had intended.
Of the 55% who had retired earlier than anticipated, poor health (30%) and redundancy (29%) were cited as the principal factors. 1 in 4 people said they no longer enjoyed their job and chose to retire sooner than planned.
David Dunn, pensions specialist and author of the Which Way Forward? paper, said: “The contrast between decisions made by those who have recently retired and now those approaching retirement clearly shows that a seminal change is taking place.
“It is now time for the Government and pension providers alike to be innovative and provide retirees guidance and products to suit the new ‘normal’ of retirement.”
Nick Parry, a director of Sanlam, said: “The research shows that the era of annuities and traditional pension planning is over. Unless the pension industry grasps the current climate and truly understands changed consumer needs, it will not be able to provide appropriate products and advice.”