How to retire early most common question for advisers

More than half of clients approaching retirement want to know if they can do so early, according to new research from Standard Life.

Standard Life’s bi-annual survey of UK financial advisers found that the most common question they are asked by clients close to retirement is how much money they need to retire early (58%) closely followed by nearly half (48%) asking should they take tax-free cash as a lump sum.

Other questions raised in the survey included how to pay less tax (38%), the impact of Brexit on finances (36%), transferring defined benefit pensions (22%) and buying an annuity (16%). Gifting to children and grandchildren in a tax efficient way during their lifetime and after death scored 9% and 14% respectively.

Alastair Black, head of WRAP platform proposition at Standard Life, said: “Clients close to retirement want to make the most of their hard-earned savings, so it’s unsurprising to see questions on early retirement and lump sums asked most frequently. This demonstrates the true value of good advice, as these are basic questions that can have a huge impact on retirement planning.

“An interesting dimension we are seeing in the research is the healthy proportion of clients seeking advice on inheritance tax and gifting to children and grandchildren. Advisers are telling us this is a growing trend as more clients have larger amounts of money to manage. The area of intergenerational wealth transfer is reasonably ‘young’ in the UK market, we predict it will become an increasingly important part of the advice and planning process.”

Data for Standard Life’s Q4 Quest report was collected between 19th November and 2nd December. 287 UK advisers took part in the survey.

ENDS

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Notes to editors

About Standard Life

• The Standard Life brand is almost 200 years old and today it is focused on being customers’ first choice for their life savings.
• In the UK, Standard Life helps people with their life savings through its Wrap and Elevate platforms which are used by financial advisers to provide financial planning and wealth management services to their clients.
• £56 billion* of assets are currently invested across the Standard Life platforms.
• *30th June 2019

Standard Life Savings Limited, provider of the Wrap Platform, is registered in Scotland (SC180203) at 1 George Street, Edinburgh, EH2 2LL. Standard Life Savings Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. www.standardlife.co.uk2020 Standard Life Aberdeen, reproduced under licence. All rights reserved