Retirement

Mike Morrison, Axa Wealth's head of pensions development, offers his views on the government's far-reaching reforms of the retirement market.

More than one in five people retiring this year will still have debts according to the Prudential Class of 2011 study.

More than one in five people retiring this year will still owe on average £33,100, Prudential research found.

The government will today confirm the scrapping of the default retirement age (DRA) from April, meaning employers will no longer be able to dismiss staff when they turn 65.

Protection advice drove only 4% of people who sought out an IFA last year, according to results from Unbiased.

Intelligent Pensions (IP) is offering non-advisory ‘lay advocate' roles to IFAs considering exiting the industry due to the pressure of the RDR.

Inheritance Tax (IHT) is unpopular and ineffective and should be replaced with a new capital receipts tax, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) says.

The number of bankrupt over-65s has increased six times in the past ten years, the Insolvency Service says.

The DWP will look into improving annuity rates for people with pension pots of under £5,000, pensions minister Steve Webb says.

Almost 20% of people do not believe pensions are a safe investment although more than half say they are 'vital' for retirement, research by Defaqto suggests.