According to the research, 9 per cent of employees approaching retirement with defined benefit pensions think they would be interested in exchanging most or all of this pension for a DC pot that they can dip into as they wish. A further 11 per cent would be interested in exchanging half of their DB pension and 24 per cent in exchanging less than half of it.
The research also reveals contrasting attitudes to annuities among those approaching retirement. Most employees are primarily concerned with income security when assessing the best retirement income options for them. Three-quarters -76 per cent – want to be guaranteed that their money will last throughout their lifetime, while 68 per cent are keen to protect their income from inflation and over 57 per cent of married respondents aim to provide an income for their spouse after their death. But only 28 per cent say they’ll use the majority of their DC fund to buy an annuity, one of the few options available that would provide the kind of security that is being sought.
Towers Watson senior consultant Will Aitken says: “Prior to the Budget, hardly anyone was interested in exchanging their final salary pension – which was often deemed to be more generous and more secure – for a forced annuity defined contribution arrangement.
“Transfers will now become a mainstream choice which pension schemes need to cater for. For example, we’re now seeing DB schemes considering whether to include transfer values on all pension statements so that members approaching retirement can clearly see what their choices are. At the moment, this information has to be specifically requested, leaving many people with little idea what size of DC pot they could swap their DB pension for.
“Most people interested in transfers ideally want to keep some DB pension, but schemes usually offer an ‘all or nothing’ choice. In practice, this means that people with two DB pensions from different employers might keep one where it is and exchange the other for a DC pot.
“Transfers can only grow in popularity from their current – virtually non-existent – levels, especially now that less tax will be due when unused DC pensions are passed down the generations. However, it would be foolish to predict a stampede to the exits. It is human nature to stick with what we have, and a secure lifetime income is not something to give up lightly.”
