More than half of pots fully withdrawn under pension freedom

In the nine months after consumers were given unfettered access to their pots from age 55, more than 312,000 pensions were fully encashed of a total of 540,000 pots accessed. At the same time about 58,000 annuities were bought (11%). The vast majority of pension savings withdrawn fully were among the smallest ones, data for the final three months of 2015 showed. The option was most popular for pots worth less than £10,000, of which two thirds (64%) were withdrawn fully and those between £10,000 and £30,000, of which almost half (46%) were depleted. In contrast, annuities were the most...