New analysis from leading online pension provider, PensionBee, reveals that self-employed savers are choosing to keep their savings invested despite rising inflation. The average quarterly withdrawal amounts for the online pension provider’s self-employed customers declined by over a quarter (28%), from £23,633 in H1 2021 to £16,963 in H1 2022.
Despite this noticeable decrease in average quarterly withdrawal amounts, the proportion of eligible self-employed customers (aged 55 and over) who made withdrawals remained the same from H1 2021 to H1 2022.
PensionBee’s latest data highlights a broad adoption of a more cautious approach to withdrawals, as savers hope to make their money stretch further for longer. In general, the average PensionBee customers’ withdrawal amount fell by 14% from £16,749 in H1 2021 to £14,393 in H1 2022.
Male savers continue to make significantly larger withdrawals compared to females (as seen in Q1 2022), with their average withdrawal amounts totalling £16,088 in H1 2022, compared to females who withdrew £9,881 in H1 2022 (1).
Romi Savova, CEO of PensionBee, commented: “Retirees are facing a tough balancing act, between accessing the money they need for today and withdrawing at a sustainable rate so their pension lasts for the whole of their retirement.
Given the tough current economic climate, it’s encouraging to see our customers choosing to keep as much of their pension invested as possible - as this is one of the few ways to protect its value against rising inflation.
As always, timing is crucial with pensions, so I would encourage all savers to make an informed decision on when they choose to access their savings, as this can have a significant impact on their overall retirement income.”
Appendix
Table 1: Average quarterly withdrawal amounts for PensionBee’s self-employed customers in H1 2021 - H1 2022
Source: PensionBee, July 2022. Based on 1,636 customers.
Table 2: Proportion of eligible self-employed customers who made withdrawals in H1 2021 - H1 2022
Source: PensionBee, July 2022. Based on 1,636 customers. Numbers have been rounded.
Table 3: Average quarterly withdrawal amounts for all PensionBee customers in H1 2021 - H1 2022
Source: PensionBee, July 2022. Based on 4,060 customers.
Table 4: Average quarterly withdrawal amounts based on gender for all PensionBee customers in H1 2022
Source: PensionBee, July 2022. Based on 4,060 customers.
