Nearly two-thirds of people retiring before State Pension Age, new research from Just Group has revealed.
According to the retirement specialist’s Countdown to Retirement survey, 62% of the 1,050 retired over-55s surveyed left the workforce before receiving their State Pension, while 19% stated that they retired as soon as they started to receive the State Pension. A further 19% said they retired sometime after receiving their pension.
The research found that men (69%) were much more likely to retire before State Pension than their female counterparts (55%).
Over a third (34%) of those who retired before age 66 said that they also withdrew money from their pension between the age of 55 and finishing full-time work.
However, Just Group warned of the effects of taking large amounts from pensions, after the FCA recently raised concerns about the sustainability of income withdrawals. Its research showed that 40% of income drawdown plans were being withdrawn at an annual rate of 8% or over and 13% take regular withdrawals of 6-7.99%.
Stephen Lowe, group communications director at Just Group, said: “The majority of people are retiring before they reach State Pension Age, putting extra pressure on their retirement finances because they must bridge the income gap between stopping work and starting to receive the State Pension.
“Unsurprisingly, our survey also discovered high levels of early pension access with nearly three in 10 taking money out of their pension before retiring, rising to more than a third of those who stopped working before State Pension Age.”
Lowe added: “We would urge people approaching the age when they can access their pension and those thinking about when they can afford to leave the workforce to seek help before making irreversible decisions.”
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