{"id":454857,"date":"2026-05-18T12:40:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T12:40:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/454857\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T12:40:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T12:40:19","slug":"state-pensioners-born-before-1971-rush-to-fully-withdraw-money-from-account","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/454857\/","title":{"rendered":"State pensioners born before 1971 rush to ‘fully withdraw’ money from account"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2024-25, 462,160 pension pots were fully withdrawn when first accessed.<\/p>\n

06:24, 18 May 2026Updated 06:53, 18 May 2026<\/p>\n

\"State<\/p>\n

State pensioners born before 1971 rush to ‘fully withdraw’ money from account<\/p>\n

100,000 more retirees are emptying their pension pots IN ONE GO than six years ago, pre Covid<\/a>, it has been found. In 2024-25, 462,160 pension pots were fully withdrawn when first accessed.<\/p>\n

It marks a 29 per cent rise from 357,122 in 2018-19, according to Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) data. Two thirds of the retirement nest eggs fully withdrawn in 2024-25 \u2013 301,991 plans \u2013 were worth less than \u00a310,000.<\/p>\n

The rush of withdrawals has been cited as being down to the state pension, and fears it won’t cover a basic retirement. Adam Cole, from Quilter, said: \u201cWhere savings are limited, taking the full amount is often a practical response to immediate financial pressures rather than a long-term income strategy.<\/p>\n

READ MORE Petrol and diesel drivers face big ban under Labour with exact year announced<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe concern is that fully cashing out smaller pots may provide short-term relief but raises the risk of running out of money later in life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under government rules, most savers can take 25 per cent of their pension pot tax-free once they reach the age of 55, up to a maximum of \u00a3268,275.<\/p>\n

Georgie Edwards, of workplace pension scheme provider TPT, said the rise in full withdrawals was \u201ca worrying signal\u201d about retirement adequacy in Britain, adding: \u201cFor many, it\u2019s not a strategic choice but a sign their savings aren\u2019t sufficient.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tom Selby, of investment platform AJ Bell, said: \u201cAnyone considering cashing in their entire pension pot needs to think carefully about the tax consequences of that decision and the implications it could have for their retirement.<\/p>\n

\u201cCrucially, if you are taking money out of a pension and simply shoving it in a bank account, the money will be moving from an environment where it can grow tax-free to one where it could be subject to tax, while inflation will eat away at its real value over the long term.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Cole added: \u201cThe increase in pension withdrawals since 2018-19 reflects a structural shift as fewer people reach retirement with defined benefit income and more rely on defined contribution pots. That makes full or flexible access more likely.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Department for Work and Pensions ( DWP<\/a> ) spokesman said: \u201cThe Pensions Commission is examining how we can ensure secure retirements for tomorrow\u2019s pensioners, while our newly passed Pension Schemes Act will bring about major reform to the UK pensions system, benefitting millions of workers to the tune of up to \u00a329,000 by the time they retire.<\/p>\n

\u201cSupporting pensioners is a priority and our commitment to the Triple Lock for the rest of this Parliament also means millions of pensioners will see their yearly State Pension rise by up to \u00a32,100.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 2024-25, 462,160 pension pots were fully withdrawn when first accessed. 06:24, 18 May 2026Updated 06:53, 18 May…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":454858,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[72,176,61,60,174,175,10243],"class_list":["post-454857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-finance","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance","tag-your-money"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=454857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454857\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/454858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=454857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=454857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}