freedom and choice

This week's top stories included the latest figures on pension withdrawals since Freedom and Choice, and the effect of President Donald Trump on DB deficits.

Flexible payments from pension rose to £5.7bn in 2016 as people increasingly sought to take advantage of the freedoms, according to HM Revenue and Customs' (HMRC) figures.

Half of people aged over 55 have no idea when they can afford to retire despite being within a decade of state retirement age, according to research.

The government has been criticised for excluding pensions from a poster which aims to inform the public on the various savings vehicles available.

The OECD believes annuities are part of the solution to prevent people running out of money in retirement. Michael Klimes asks how viable this is in the era of Freedom and Choice

Over £100bn has been transferred by the Origo Options Transfers service since it started eight years ago, driven by rising demand since Freedom and Choice.

UK pension schemes' average allocation to bonds has risen to over 50% for the first time according to The Pension Protection Fund's (PPF's) Purple Book.

The industry needs to take a different approach to empower the public to manage their pensions says The Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS) chief executive.

Charges and poor returns can seriously reduce the amount of income people have in retirement. Michael Klimes looks at what can be done to help avoid these pitfalls.

The number of FTSE 350 defined benefit (DB) plans which are cashflow negative has increased from 50% to 57% over the course of the year according to Hymans Robertson.