Monthly Archives: February 2016
Why you should always mind your apostrophes!
This is a rather strange story with an unexpected outcome. Last Friday, Gregg McClymont, Justin Cash, Jenny Davidson and I were sitting in the Cockpit celebrating the end of the working week. We were joined by a small lady called … Continue reading
Posted in pensions
Tagged bakewell, gilbert and sullivan, gilbert o'sullivan, Gregg McClymont, Jenny Davidson, justin cash, Mermaid theatre
3 Comments
Anything is better than this!
A beck-bench revolt over pensions? Pension consulting firm Mercer report that many large employers are limiting high earning employers to a £10,000 pension contribution next year for fear of the tapering annual allowance. Instead of pension contributions, these employers … Continue reading
Posted in pensions
5 Comments
We are used to thinking about pensions parochially, worrying about our patch and disregarding the bigger picture. But- if you are the Chancellor of the Exchequer-pensions are but a leaf on the tree. The tree is the state of Britain’s finances. … Continue reading
For all tomorrow’s parties
I would like to think myself a party person and I could have been called the pension piss-head for parts of my career. But I guess there’s a time when you get partied out and such a time was last … Continue reading
The golden key (to pension taxation)
The golden key to pension taxation unlocks pensions for the silent majority of people in this country who have no interest in “pensions”. The golden key unlocks money currently spent incentivising the wealthy to preserve wealth and allows those who need … Continue reading
Posted in pensions
Tagged auto-enroment, change, EET, Employment, Financial services, golden key, Osborne, pension, pensions, Retirement, Tax, Taxation, TEE, Treasury
3 Comments
“The re-nationalisation of pensions”
Who pays? – Scheme Pays! Buried deep in the technical pages of HMRC’s pension regulations is reference to a breezy topic “Scheme Pays“. “Scheme Pays” allows an occupational pension scheme to pay a member’s tax bill where the member has … Continue reading
Posted in pensions
Tagged George Osborne, Government pensions, Pay, Payroll, pension, scheme pays, Tax, Taxation
7 Comments
Are mastertrusts safe?
Is it good enough that pension schemes can operate without ANY capital adequacy requirements That’s the question posed by FT’s Jo Cumbo and as that old adage “50% of people don’t know what “50%” means” goes to show, most people … Continue reading
Posted in pensions
Tagged auto enrolment, Financial services, pension, pensions, Retirement, trust mster trust, Workie, workplace pension
4 Comments
What is the goal of good management?
Discretion is the better part of valour- they used to say. Then along came social media and discretion is not the kind of word that you use when you only have 140 characters at your disposal. Some thought that the … Continue reading
What is the point (of tax-relief)?
A tired (and possibly emotional) actuary sends me a late night mail which starts.. What is the tax relief deal? Govt in effect borrows money over 40 years on average to invest in whatever DC investors invest in and … Continue reading
Posted in pensions
Tagged auto enrolment, bread, incentives, pensions, tax relief, Titanic
3 Comments
Let the canny worm lie?
The problem with cans of worms is that the cans degrade and in the end the worms get out, and cause a stink. Over the weekend, the Telegraph that acts as a professional “worm can opener” has been turning its … Continue reading
Posted in pensions
Tagged Alistair Darling, contracting-out, DWP, GMP, inheritable serps, inherited serps, pension, pensions, Ros Altmann, SERPS, state pension, Telegraph
3 Comments