Sandie Seward
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Joined: 21 Nov 2005
Posts: 4425
Location: South Essex
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 Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2006 12:25 am Post subject: 'A' Day. |
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The majority of people are still in the dark about new pensions regulations three months after the changes came into force, according to a survey.
On April 6, dubbed A-Day, the biggest change to the rules governing pensions for 50 years was introduced in a bid to make pensions simpler and encourage people to save more.
But research carried out by YouGov for wealth manager Barclays Wealth found that three months later, 68% of people were still unaware that the changes had taken place.
Only one in four of the 2,000 people questioned knew that A-Day related to simplifying the tax laws governing pensions, the vast majority of whom could not say exactly what the changes were.
At the same time only 15% of these people had reviewed their retirement saving so that they could benefit from the new rules.
Among people who knew A-Day related to pensions, just over a third knew that under the new regulations they could save more into a pension each year, while only 42% knew they could contribute to more than one pension at once.
Less than half of people were aware that under the changes the minimum age at which they could retire would be increased from 50 to 55 from 2010.
Unsurprisingly older people were more aware of the changes, with 31% of people in their 50s and 60s knowing that A-Day referred to changes to pensions regulations, compared with just 13% of 18 to 24 year olds.
Around 22% of people aged over 60 had reviewed their pension in the light of the changes, something just 16% of people in their early 50s had done.
Stephen Ingledew, director of Barclays Financial Planning, said it was vital people took time to look at the changes and understand how they could benefit from them.
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