Thursday, 24 October 2013 08:55
More over-65s working to boost retirement income
Partnership Website
The end of a default retirement age is resulting in a rise in older workers, according to new research, with 16 per cent of people saying they believe they will never be able to retire fully.
Currently almost a third (28 per cent or 9.1 million) of the total UK workforce of 32.3m is over the age of 50 - an increase of 12 per cent over the last five years.
While the end to the default retirement age has contributed to this increase, new research from Partnership suggests economic necessity will drive this trend as 71 per cent of 50-65 year olds feel that they will need to supplement their income in retirement.
Research from Partnership revealed that while 33 per cent of 50-65 year olds had put aside savings and investments to fill this gap, up to 39 per cent will rely on continued paid employment of some sort. In addition, 21 per cent intend to delay their retirement and 18 per cent will look to set up a small business or take on part-time work when they finish their current role.
Over-50s views of later life employment revealed that the majority (52 per cent) believe that people should be able to work for as long as they are able and 48 per cent felt that there should be more opportunities for part-time work in retirement. While 30 per cent of over-50s believe work has social as well as financial benefits, some do not believe that they will ever be in a position to fully retire (16 per cent) and 7 per cent say they have no pension savings at all.
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However, some over-50s felt that this may have a negative impact on the younger generation and 31 per cent felt that over-65s should retire so younger people could be employed. Instead, 24 per cent suggested that the Government should pay older people to undertake community service.
Andrew Megson, managing director of Retirement, Partnership, said: "With almost three quarters of 50 – 65 year olds believing that they will need to supplement their pension income, it is vitally important that they make the most of the savings pot that they do have. Not only do people need to shop around to ascertain what deals are available but they also need to consider whether their health or lifestyle might have an impact on their annuity income.
"Over 3.7 million people are living with diabetes in the UK and just telling their annuity provider about this condition could get them up to 19 per cent more annual retirement income. So while it is obviously vital to put away as much as possible over your working life, this is not always possible so you also need to make sure that when it comes to taking out an annuity, you find the best deal for you."
Partnership used the Office of National Statistics Labour Force Survey ( September 2013) and the OpinionMatters survey of 2,000 consumers between the ages of 45 and 65 in Q3 2013 for its research.
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