PensionsJan 28 2015

Aegon: Pensions guidance needs to be more digital

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Aegon: Pensions guidance needs to be more digital

The upcoming pensions guidance may not be digital enough, the regulation strategy director at Aegon UK has warned.

Steven Cameron was speaking after the Citizens’ Advice Bureau announced plans for 44 sites across the UK where Pension Wise guidance will be available.

But he expressed concern that many pensioners would face a lengthy drive if they wanted guidance.

He said: “This further highlights why Aegon continues to believe we need digital solutions that work, not just to control costs but for customer convenience.

“An online service is more scalable and also allows people to come back on multiple occasions over the course of their retirement as their circumstances change.”

According to Mr Cameron, the new pension freedoms mean people are likely to make multiple decisions about how to take their income, rather than just a one-off choice about which annuity provider to select.

Therefore, he said people will would need advisers to help support them with each of those decisions.

Adviser view

Paul Holiday, director of Norwich-based GreenSky Wealth, said: “Doing it digitally would be easier but as a generation maybe the people who require advice are not necessarily familiar with technology, though a lot of them are.”