More than three-quarters of people with defined contribution (DC) pension pots have already dipped into them by the time they retire, data from a pension provider indicates. Scottish Widows said that 78% of people took money from their pots early, withdrawing £47,000 on average. Of those taking money out early, more than half (52%) withdrew funds five years before their selected retirement age (SRA), with a fifth (21%) opting to start taking out funds nine to 10 years before their retirement age. Scottish Widows analysed workplace pension scheme customers’ behaviour across more than 230,000 different retirement claim transactions between 2019 and 2023. It also looked at how much the average £47,000 withdrawal could grow by if it remained invested for longer. Scottish Widows estimated that if the money remained invested from age 55 – the age at which people with a DC pension can start to withdraw money under the pension freedoms – for an additional five years, they could potentially have around £13,900 more on average by the time they reach 60. That figure could potentially rise to around £24,600 if it were to stay invested for 10 years to age 65 and to more than £38,000 if someone...