Some 24% of over 50s told pollsters they planned to dip into their pensions having already taken the tax-free cash entitlement.
Priorities for the money included saving for a rainy day (28%) and using it to pay themselves an income (28%).
Making home improvements (17%) and paying off debts (17%) were also priorities.
YouGov surveyed over 1,000 adults for Retirement Advantage.
Andrew Tully, pensions technical director at Retirement Advantage, said: “While paying off debt can be a good use of the money, stripping out cash from a pension to save it for a rainy day is frankly bonkers. You might be surprised at just how much tax you will pay on any withdrawal, before you consider how little interest you will earn on savings at the moment.
‘We need to start a conversation around pensions which gets back to basics. People need to remember why they initially saved for the longer term, to pay them a salary in retirement. The pension changes have given people the opportunity to take control, but, left to their own devices, many are at risk of making poor decisions. Pension Wise and financial advice should be promoted at every opportunity if people are to avoid costly and irreversible mistakes.”
Other reasons for taking the money included paying off the mortgage (12%), investing in shares (14%) or buy-to-let (8%).
Making improvements to the home (17%) and gifting money to the family (8%), were also cited, while 15% planned to go on the holiday of a lifetime and one in ten (11%) intended to buy a new car.