Openwork: Two thirds of over 55s not seeking advice on retirement plans

Three quarters of adults (73%) have never spoken about financial planning with their children, parents and other relatives.

Openwork: Two thirds of over 55s not seeking advice on retirement plans

Research by financial advice network Openwork has found that 64% of couples over 55 have never sought advice on their retirement plans.

One in four couples in this age demographic have not discussed how much their partner has in pension savings, whilst one in five (17%) admit to never having discussed financial planning.

The study also found that 76% of couples aged over 55 do not have an approximate figure in mind on how much they will receive in retirement income.

Despite these figures, 61% of these couples discussed financial planning for retirement in the last year.

Three quarters of adults (73%) have never spoken about financial planning with their children, parents and other relatives.

Mike Morrow, wealth and platform director at Openwork, said: “Much more needs to be done by the financial advice profession, regulators and the Government to ensure that families are taking a more proactive and positive approach to financial planning as well as ensuring that couples in particular discuss their retirement plans together and with a qualified financial adviser.

“For couples, seeing an adviser can help them better understand their own position, with financial advisers skilled in ensuring they are on the same page when it comes to their current financial situation and priorities around long-term financial planning.

Despite helpful online services such as The Pension Advisory Service, The Money Advice Service and the newly launched Money and Pensions Service providing some support, nothing can replicate the benefit of seeing a financial adviser.”