According to research commissioned by Aon Consulting, this could be as a direct result of the forthcoming rise to the minimum retirement age to 55 on April 6, leading to many people aged between 50 and 54 retiring now while they still can.
The Aon Pensions Admin Tracker (Admin Tracker) analyses a sample of nearly 350,000 scheme members from 35 typical UK defined-contribution (DC) and defined-benefit (DB) schemes to provide an insight into how the economic environment is impacting behaviour towards pensions. The latest findings compare data from September 2009 and January 2010.
But Aon found that the number of pension scheme members enquiring about how much their pension fund is currently worth have fallen by 47% since September and is the lowest figure recorded since the Admin Tracker began (in February 2008).
In addition, the number of people leaving a scheme fell 38% since September. These statistics suggest that we now appear to be over the peak of activity brought about by the economic downturn and the uncertainty it created among members.
Commenting on the data, Colin Hamilton, commercial director at Aon Consulting, said: "As predicted by our last Admin Tracker, the announced rise in the minimum retirement age from 50 to 55 in April 2010 has led to an increase in retirement activity with continued high volumes of retirement quotations and a surge in retirement settlements - a trend we expect to continue in the lead up to April 6.
"It is important that members are aware of these changes, especially those aged between 50 and 54 who had been planning to retire this year. We have undertaken numerous communication campaigns for our clients to ensure that members are aware of the changes and it appears that activities such as these are having a positive impact."
