The vote to leave the EU has already dented financial confidence and European holidays, and cast an even longer shadow over pensions.
Four out of ten people feel “less financially secure” and a fifth much less secure, in a poll by comparethemarket.com.
People are also less likely to holiday in Europe if they haven’t already bought their euros, the website found.
“Our research suggests that the number of UK holidays to Europe could fall significantly, with over one in ten (11per cent) UK adults saying that they would now be less likely to book a holiday to Europe. If this is the case, that may be more than six million people from the UK avoiding the beaches of the Mediterranean and possibly opting for a “staycation” instead."
Holidaymakers faced long queues to exchange their travel money on Thursday amid fears that a Brexit vote could see the value of the pound plummet. Travelex, one of the UK’s biggest currency providers, said online orders had jumped 30 per cent compared with the previous week, while FairFX said dollar transactions had quadrupled since last weekend and euro transactions had doubled. HiFX reported a 46per cent rise in holidaymakers buying euros and US dollars.
The shock scenario will impact anyone planning to retire over the next few years. David Fairs, partner at KPMG, said: “Those expecting to retire shortly will find a volatile backdrop that will make it difficult to plan for retirement in the short term.
"Deferring retirement until markets stabilise might be a sensible decision, although there might well be short term opportunities to bag a bargain in volatile markets if interest rates rise and they have overseas holdings.”
He added: “Those saving for retirement might now need to rethink their investment strategy as the pound adjusts.”
The UK’s 6000 private sector final salary pension schemes are “in for a rough ride, hit with the prospect of higher inflation, and an expected fall-off in pension asset values over the next couple of years”, said KPMG partner Stewart Hastie.
Pension deficits were likely to increase and be more volatile, with four in every five schemes already underfunded with an aggregate deficit of £320 billion, near all-time highs.
“With some 2000 schemes due to have a funding review in the next 12 months UK businesses will be under pressure to divert cash to shore up historic pension liabilities.”
On personal pensions, Steven Cameron, pensions director at Aegon UK in Edinburgh, said: “Our key message to pension savers is ‘don’t panic’.
" If you have a defined contribution or personal pension, its value will be affected by stockmarket movements and if you are thinking of taking money out in the immediate future, we recommend you first seek advice.
"There are no other immediate impacts on our customers’ pensions.”
He added: “The UK Government will now enter into two years of negotiations with the EU with any changes from this taking place afterwards. It might consider other changes to pensions in response to wider economic conditions and we will be monitoring closely any possible impact on our customers.”
Tom McPhail, head of retirement at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “For long- term pension investors who may be seeing the value of their retirement savings falling today, the key message is to do nothing unless you have to.
"If you are years from retirement and making regular savings, then just keep going; falls in the market mean buying investments at a lower price. If you are close to retirement, then try to avoid selling funds and shares right now.”
He added: “If you are in retirement and drawing an income from your investments then a good default strategy is to draw the natural yield (dividends from equities, interest on fixed interest stocks) as this means you aren’t cashing in the capital value of your investments at a time when they are falling in value.
"This means you are likely to generate an income of around three to four per cent on your portfolio.”
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