The president of the Personal Finance Society, said that although the chancellor’s Budget statement on pensions “took us all by surprise”, in the months since, advisers have shown their value.
In his letter to members, published in the latest edition of the PFS’s membership magazine, Financial Solutions, Mr Ingram said: “An announcement like this is difficult to cope with. Advice was, quite rightly, given on the basis of the position as it stood at the time.
“As a result [of the Budget] many people who had already received at-retirement advice wanted to find out how the changes, both the immediate ones and those still to come, affected them. And advisers have risen to the challenge.”
He added that the Birmingham-based PFS national conference in September would be an excellent event for members to get up to date with pension fund liberalisation rules.
Mr Ingram added: “We should, by then, have had the results of the post-Budget consultation exercise, as well as some initial feedback from the FCA’s working party, which includes the PFS, on what guidance will mean and how it could be delivered.”
Keith Richards, chief executive of the PFS, added: “The view that many of the 400,000 or so people retiring after 2015 will draw down their hard-earned pension pot to buy a Lamborghini is ridiculous.
“The likelihood that the majority will ignore the need to generate income throughout their retirement is reactionary. A greater focus may now lead to increased contributions and future generations should be disposed to save for their future.”
Adviser view
Joss Harwood, a chartered financial planner at County Durham-based Eldon Financial Planning said: “The role of a professional financial planner is to help individual clients to make best use of their resources and sometimes that means not jumping on bandwagons.
“Gatherings such as the PFS conference are an excellent opportunity to share information with our peers to help us to add clarity to new issues and deliver the right solutions to our clients.”