Latest figures from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) show some 772,000 people withdrew more than £6.5bn from their pension pots in 2017, making taking cash from a pension pot "the new norm for millions of people".
The figures remained relatively steady throughout the year, although Q2 proved to be the most popular quarter, with some 200,000 individuals withdrawing about £1.86bn. The number of people making pension withdrawals has increased steadily since pension freedom legislation came into force in 2015. A total of £15.7bn has been withdrawn since April 2015. In 2015 (starting in April with the pension freedoms), £3.53bn was withdrawn by 232,000 people. Then in 2016, £5.69bn was withdrawn by 553,000 people. Despite the number of transfers steadily rising, the average withdrawal size has ...
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