Anxious Australian Retirees Ramp Up Pension Fund Withdrawals

Australian retirees are withdrawing their pension savings at increasing rates as global turmoil and surging inflation erodes their already fragile confidence.

At Colonial First State, one of Australia’s largest pension and wealth managers, retirees ramped up lump sum withdrawals in March as the US-Iran conflict escalated, according to the latest available data from the A$179 billion ($129 billion) firm. Requests from members without financial advisers rose 55% compared with a year earlier.