Nearly a year on since the UK went into its first Covid-19 lockdown, the latest statistics from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), combined with a study from provider LV, have suggested thousands of people aged 55 and above have been leaving the full-time workforce since the coronavirus crisis began.
But while they are bringing forward their retirement, other plans they had been making for the first few years of retirement have had to be pushed back thanks to the pandemic. And, with early retirement, the world of work and its associated stresses may be behind them – but it is a big financial decision that will mean more than simply putting some plans on hold, as commentators have warned.
Latest figures from the ONS have revealed a rise in the numbers of older people leaving the workforce, marking a reversal of the trend for more older people to remain in employment after 65. In January, the ONS figures showed:
This suggests that rather than continuing to seek jobs, women are more likely than men to slip into retirement with whatever pension savings they have. As the ONS issued its statistics, life and pensions provider LV published the results of its quarterly Wealth and Wellbeing Monitor, which is a study of 4,000 UK adults. Its findings have indicated that more than 154,000 people aged 55-64 have opted for early retirement because of redundancy and reduced income, a desire to reduce their risk of exposure to Covid-19 or the pandemic has made them reassess their priorities in life. The LV research (among those who were still working at the start of 2020) revealed:
Moreover, the vast majority of those surveyed have not researched how much they might need to live on in retirement, while few have checked the value of their pension pots in the past year, the study found.
If you are considering early retirement, or have recently retired and need some advice, please contact us here.
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Source: Techlink
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