Money Insider: People are treating new pension freedoms cautiously

At the beginning of April the media went into overdrive, speculating what would happen when people were given greater access to their pension cash, but it seems that the scare stories of people splurging on fast cars and expensive holidays were wide of the mark.

The pension providers have been much busier, as you'd expect. However it seems that most people are looking for guidance and clarification about their options and the most suitable ways to manage their retirement savings.

A spokesman from Scottish Widows said: "We were prepared for a surge in calls in the week beginning 6 April with people deferring accessing their pensions until the freedoms came into effect, and we had on average a call every 10 seconds.

"It was also a watershed for us in terms of online – more customers have contacted us digitally than by phone. We received 45,000 phone calls in the first three weeks with 55,000 people visiting our Retirement Freedoms website".

One positive that has come out of the high-profile changes is that there is now a growing choice of excellent online resources for consumers who are keen to understand more about their retirement planning options, without them having to book a face to face appointment with a financial adviser.

With more people aged 60 or over in the UK than there are those aged under 18, you cannot overestimate the need for straightforward help and guidance for this fast-growing sector of the UK population.

As well as the Scottish Widows' "5 steps to retirement" guide, Unbiased.co.uk has launched "Your retirement countdown checklist" in partnership with Prudential. More than a fifth of people admit that they have taken no steps to plan for their retirement, so this sort of online resource will be helpful in making that first step. It covers the key stages every new pensioner, and those in the decade leading up to retirement, needs to take.

Skipton Building Society has been busy too, with the launch of RetireSavvy, an online retirement community. As well as a helpful range of articles, real-life user blogs and discussions on its live forum, it aims to contribute to the wider social debate around retirement and provide a voice for retirees and pre-retirees.

Ros Altmann, the UK government's Business Champion for Older Workers, praised the move: "There is a need for this, as too many people fail to plan ahead and don't make the most of their later life opportunities. Retirement is not just about money – it is something that has a major impact on people's lives and their families – and you really need to be prepared for it. The best way to do that is to learn from others and chat to people about new opportunities and ideas that are opening up for later life in the 21st century. Retirement is changing, with a more gradual end to working life, but not everyone can do that so easily. Therefore learning from the experiences of others can be invaluable."

The need for pension planning education and some hand-holding is greater than it's ever been because of the greater freedoms and choice now available.

It's to be hoped that this is just the beginning of a movement that will see more plain talking and demystifying of pension jargon and that we'll continue to see further support and resources introduced to help people make a decision that works for them.

Andrew Hagger is an independent personal finance analyst from www.moneycomms.co.uk