Industry says no further pension changes needed

They argue that the significant changes to pensions have left a large number of people confused about the options available to them, and that the government's next step needs to be clarifying the choices people will have, including emphasising the guidance guarantee and importance of regulated advice.

Jamie Smith-Thompson, managing director at Portal Financial, says:

"2014 has been one of the most significant years for pensions and we welcome the flexibilities that have been provided. However, since the reforms were announced we have received enquiries from a lot of people who are unsure what the changes mean for them. We are imploring the politicians not to make further pension reform part of their election manifesto as this will create further and unnecessary confusion with the majority of the general public.”

There has been concern across the industry recently about the consequences of pension freedoms.

Standard Life believes retirees will be far more exposed to losing their life savings to scams, as the ability of pension providers to prevent transfers of funds into fraudulent, too-good-to-be true investments will diminish once the new freedoms come into force.

Additionally, 77% of retirement advisers have said that the risk of customers spending all of their pension fund is the biggest threat to the success of pension reforms, according to research by MetLife.

Advisers fear people using their pension funds as bank accounts and running out of money is a bigger threat than concerns over the launch of the government guidance sessions and access to advice.

67% believe clients not realising the difference between guidance and advice is a major threat while 58% worry that a lack of good quality of advice will be a major threat.

Savers themselves are also concerned – a separate survey found 41% are worried about the risks of outliving their retirement income with 12% saying they will rely on the state.