New research by abrdn reveals four in five (78%) retirees admit they have not sought any professional financial advice on their retirement plans.
Despite almost half (48%) admitting they are worried about potentially running out of money in retirement, barriers to seeking advice clearly still remain – alongside gender and regional differences highlighted by the research.
The research polled 2,000 UK retirees and found that despite almost half (48%) admitting they are worried about potentially running out of money in retirement, millions are not seeking help.
Almost a third (31%) said that they hadn’t spoken to someone because of the cost of advice, while a fifth (19%) said it is because they believe only those who have a lot of money can benefit from professional advice.
Meanwhile 16% say they simply “can’t be bothered” with the time and effort of seeking advice and one in ten (9%) say it’s their lack of experience that puts them off.
abrdn’s research also highlighted that a gender gap is evident in those seeking advice, with women less likely to seek advice on their retirement plans in comparison to men.
Less than a fifth (19%) of women in retirement have spoken to a professional financial adviser, versus a quarter (25%) of men. Female retirees are also less likely to contact their pension adviser with questions (9% of women versus 15% of men).
Comparatively, women are more likely to turn to their partner, friends or family for advice compared to men (8% of women versus 6% of men) but are less likely to search for answers online (6% of women versus 10% of men).
And there are regional variations too. abrdn’s research found that retirees living in the East Midlands are most likely to have sought advice on their retirement plans (28%), followed by those in the North West (24%) and South East (23%).
Retirees in Wales (16%) and in the North East (17%) are the least likely to have spoken to a professional finance adviser prior to retiring.
Shona Lowe, financial planning expert at abrdn, said:
“It’s alarming to see gender disparity and regional variations when it comes to seeing who is seeking advice on their retirement. As an industry we have a duty to change this by making advice accessible and demonstrating its value.”
