Workers still in a hurry to benefit from final salary schemes

All
is not doom and gloom in the world of pensions, with a new survey showing the
average retirement age of members of final salary pension schemes has fallen.

Aon Consulting’s
research found that the average age of retirement for those with final salary
schemes fell from 61 in 1985 to 59 in 2003.

The
survey found that 60 per cent of men who retired in 2003 were under-60,
compared with 45 per cent in 1985.

Paul
McGlone, principal and
actuary at Aon, said: “While
there has been speculation that a harsher economic climate has led scheme
members to delay drawing on their pension until later in life, our analysis
shows that,
with defined benefit schemes, the economic
climate has not had a major impact on retirement age.

“At
present, members are still drawing their pensions earlier than they
were during the 1990s," he said. "But as more
companies place restrictions on their defined benefit schemes, we are likely to
see an increase in the average retirement age.”

McGlone warned that the positive outlook could not be projected
onto the increasingly popular defined contribution schemes, where the input from members is generally smaller
and which depend on the performance of the stock market.

This
would lead to retirement being increasingly determined by economic cycles and
not age, McGlone added.

By Michael
Millar

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