55th birthday celebrations about to hit an all-time high in the UK

The Office for National Statistics has released its latest overview of the UK population (1).

2019 and 2020 will see those born at the very peak of the post-war baby boom, in 1964 and 1965, reach the age of 55. And at 55 they will enter the arena of the pension freedoms – permitting them to access their private pension savings.

According to the latest data, 933,015 are set to reach age 55 in 2019. This will then peak at 942,791 in 2020.  The number of people celebrating their 55th birthday each year is never again projected to repeat this high. Over the next ten years a record 9.2 million people are set to reach this milestone age.

Commenting, Alistair McQueen, Head of Savings & Retirement at Aviva said:

“Since their introduction in 2015, more than one million people have taken advantage of the pension freedoms, withdrawing more than £28 billion (2). The latest population data suggests the pension freedoms are about to witness a decade like we may never see again, as 9.2 million reach their 55th birthday by 2029.

“With this greater freedom to access finances comes much greater responsibility to make informed choices to ensure that the money lasts throughout retirement. We’d encourage people to engage with their pensions early and seek out as much information as possible before committing to a particular route.”

Here are five top tips if you are considering using your pension freedoms:

  • Take your time: You could have been saving into your private pension(s) for more than 30 years. Don’t rush into making any decisions. It’s a big decision and you may not be able to change your mind.
  • Understand your options: The pension freedoms typically allow you to access your private pension savings from age 55. You can usually withdraw all, some or none of your savings. Age 55 is the date from which you are eligible to access your private pension savings, but there is no need to act at that age. Indeed, the longer you wait before accessing your savings, the more you are likely to have available in later life.
  • Get free help: The government recognise that deciding how to use the pension freedoms could be confusing, so they have established a free service call Pension Wise to help you understand your options. There have been more than 8 million visits to www.pensionwise.gov.uk since launch, and the service currently carries a 97.9% satisfaction score.(3)
  • Avoid unnecessary tax: You can typically take 25% of your pension savings tax free, but after that, income taken from a pension is taxed the same was as any other income. The rate at which you take your pension savings will have implications for the amount of tax you may have to pay. Bigger withdrawals are likely to attract bigger tax bills, so withdraw with care and consideration.
  • Shop around: You may have saved with one company for many years, but there is no need to stay with that same company when you are using your pension freedom monies. If and when withdrawing some or all of your money, shop around to consider new homes for your savings. This could make a big financial difference over the following years.

- ENDS -

References

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

1.  https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/-populationestimates/articles/overviewoftheukpopulation/august2019

2.  https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/flexible-payments-from-pensions

3.  https://www.gov.uk/performance/pension-wise

Media enquiries:

Fiona Whytock

Retirement, Savings and Investments

Notes to editors:

  • We are the UK's leading diversified insurer and we operate in the UK, Ireland and Canada. We also have international investments in India and China.
  • We help our 19.2 million (as at 31 December 2023) customers make the most out of life, plan for the future, and have the confidence that if things go wrong we’ll be there to put it right.
  • We have been taking care of people for more than 325 years, in line with our purpose of being ‘with you today, for a better tomorrow’. In 2023, we paid £25.6 billion in claims and benefits to our customers. 
  • In 2021, we announced our ambition to become Net Zero by 2040, the first major insurance company in the world to do so. We are aiming to have Net Zero carbon emissions from Aviva’s operations and supply chain by 2030. While we are working towards our sustainability ambitions, we recognise that while we have control over Aviva’s operations and influence on our supply chain, when it comes to decarbonising the economy in which we operate and invest, Aviva is one part of a far larger global ecosystem. There are also limits to our ability to influence other organisations and governments. Nevertheless, we remain focused on the task and are committed to playing our part in the collective effort to enable the global transition. Find out more about our climate goals at www.aviva.com/climate-goals and our sustainability ambition and action at www.aviva.com/sustainability
  • Aviva is a Living Wage, Living Pension and Living Hours employer and provides market-leading benefits for our people, including flexible working, paid carers leave and equal parental leave. Find out more at https://www.aviva.com/about-us/our-people/
  • As at 31 December 2023, total Group assets under management at Aviva Group were £376 billion and our estimated Solvency II shareholder capital surplus was £8.8 billion. Our shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange and we are a member of the FTSE 100 index.
  • For more details on what we do, our business and how we help our customers, visit www.aviva.com/about-us
  • The Aviva newsroom at www.aviva.com/newsroom includes links to our spokespeople images, podcasts, research reports and our news release archive. Sign up to get the latest news from Aviva by email.
  • You can follow us on:
  • For the latest corporate films from around our business, subscribe to our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/user/aviva

      More from our Newsroom