Covid-19 is affecting retirement plans

NEARLY a fifth (18%) of people aged over 50 say the coronavirus pandemic may affect their retirement plans or has already done so.

Among those whose plans have been hit, a quarter (25%) said they have not been able to retire due to their finances, research for Co-op Insurance found. Some 2,000 people aged 50 and over, including some who have retired and some still working, were surveyed and more than a fifth (22%) said they have had to use some of their savings after being out of work.

However, the Covid-19 pandemic has encouraged almost a third (31%) of over-50s who are yet to retire to perhaps do so sooner.

Among the retired, nearly a quarter (23%) said the virus has affected their plans to spend time with friends and family, and a fifth (20%) have not been able to travel as they had planned.