There has been a surprise decline in the number of advised clients ‘phasing’ retirement since the pandemic.

More clients are now preferring to retire completely at one point rather than steadily move into retirement, according to a report from Aegon.

The adviser survey found that 44% of advised clients who retired in 2020 did so at "a single point", more than double the  previous year, although Aegon believes the trend many only be temporary.

The number of clients who retired gradually declined from 74% in 2019 to 38% in 2020.

Since the pandemic started in March 2020 the report also found that 64% of queries to advisers were from clients aged 55 or over.

The report suggests that long term trends for clients to gradually transition into retirement over a number of years were reversed when the pandemic started. More clients preferred to take their full pension straightaway and give up work at one point.

The findings were highlighted in Aegon’s Adviser Attitudes Report which says that the turnaround bucks a trend visible since the Pension Freedoms were introduced of people gradually phasing into retirement. 

Aegon believes the pandemic nudged many people to reassess their priorities and some may have opted to retire following a loss of work. Aegon points to a recent ONS data which revealed that unemployment among over 50s has risen to 3.7% from 2.8% since the start of the pandemic.

Steven Cameron, pensions director at Aegon, said: “While the marked reversal of the previous post-Pensions Freedoms trend towards phasing gradually into retirement has taken everyone by surprise, it seems likely that ─ once the effects of the pandemic subside ─ people will revert to a more gradual transition into retirement.”

• Aegon’s Adviser attitudes report 2021 are based on a survey of 250 UK financial advisers. Fieldwork by Opinium was carried out in October 2020.