Four-fifths of retirees have not sought financial advice during COVID-19, despite three-quarters of them also expressing a lack of confidence around how long their hard-earned savings will actually last.
The findings are from a survey conducted by Allianz Retire+, which also revealed that only one in five retirees feels like they have “easy access to professional financial advice”.
According to Allianz Retire+ CEO Matt Rady, “COVID-19 is taking a terrible toll on the economic wellbeing of many retirees.”
He said the impact of the current pandemic “has exposed shortcomings in retirement product design, access to financial advice and superannuation education”.
Around one-third of retirees who responded to the survey indicated a belief that financial advisers are “for the rich”, while almost two-thirds of the unadvised retirees said they would not use one because of the costs involved.
Mr Rady said there needs to be a change to the perception of financial advice, especially among retirees.
“The advice proposition is proven to be an integral part of providing individuals with confidence and certainty in retirement,” he advised.
Nest Egg has previously reported on COVID-19 shining “a positive light on the need for advice”.
“Those who use an adviser told us they feel more confident and secure in their financial position,” the CEO acknowledged.
With almost seven in 10 advised retirees having indicated in the survey that they are sticking to their financial plan, Mr Rady said it means “advice is definitely deterring people from making sub-optimal investment decisions based on fear or a lack of understanding”.
The same research also revealed that soon-to-be retirees will be hardest hit by the COVID-19 downturn.
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Article reproduced from Nest Egg by Grace Ormsby
