Monthly Archives: August 2017
How do we value our large DB plans?
Today’s Pension Play Pen lunch (at the Hydrant pub not the Counting House) will discuss how best we value our large DB plans. What do we mean by large DB plans? I guess there are a number of big … Continue reading
Posted in Pension Freedoms, pension playpen, pensions, Pensions Regulator
Tagged Hydrant, Lunch, pension playpen, The Pensions Regulator
3 Comments
Real people and boats
I’ve been spending too much of my time with my head up Mr Pension’s backside. Last summer, after spending a lot of money doing Lady Lucy up, I decided it was time to invite people on the boat who … Continue reading
Posted in pensions
2 Comments
Who will champion DC savers?
I hear a lot of DB experts at conferences talking about transferring their “skill-set” for the benefit of DC savers; they want to transport their language – diversified growth funds, liability driven investment and glide-paths into the lingua franca of … Continue reading
Posted in dc pensions, pension playpen, pensions
Tagged DWP, IGCs, net-pay, PLSA, relief at source, TPR, Whitbread
16 Comments
We cannot treat low-earners as second class retirees.
I am returning again to the complicated tax situation that people earning under the nil-rate income threshold find themselves in when saving into pensions. I’m doing so for three reasons From a societal point of view , it is wrong … Continue reading
Posted in pensions
Tagged Grenfell, NEST, net-pay, NOW, occupational pensions, Peoples, relief at source, Tax
5 Comments
Isn’t this what millennials really want in the workplace? @locktoninfo
Although Pension PlayPen and First Actuarial do our work for employers and trustees, we rely on our partner- Lockton – to do the heavy lifting on workplace benefits. Here’s the first of two articles on what they’re research tells them … Continue reading
Posted in advice gap, Financial Education, governance, happiness, pensions
3 Comments
Four ways to harvest what auto-enrolment has sown!
We have to think how we can best support the 1m employers who have workplace pensions. Here are some solutions we’re coming to. Continue reading
Posted in accountants, auto-enrolment, NEST, now, pensions
Tagged AE, auto enrolment, NEST, pensions, Technology, TPR
1 Comment
From Denham to Sier – a 1% world!
You know how sometimes a little fact gets stuck in your head for no apparent reason? Back in 1998, I was reading an article by the then Pensions Minister John Denham. He stated that if we could reduce the … Continue reading
Posted in accountants, advice gap, pensions
Tagged 1, 1% world, chris sier, Dr Chirs Sier, FCA, John Denham, workplace Pensions
3 Comments
Is the Taylor report “dead and buried”?
When Theresa May asked Matthew Taylor to Review Modern Working Practices in the UK it was October 2016. She looked a strong and stable leader with a majority and a nation behind her. On July 11th, exactly a year after … Continue reading
Posted in auto-enrolment, pensions
Tagged auto enrolment, auto-enrolement, gig-economy, Matthew Taylor, pensions, Taylor, uber
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2018 and all that… AE costs go up 150%!
How prepared are we for the first big hike in auto-enrolment contributions in April 2018? Should we be preparing our staff for a fall in take home pay? What can we do to see pension saving as a positive? Alright … Continue reading
Posted in auto-enrolment, pensions, Sage
Tagged 2018, auto enrolment, pensions, Sage, TPR, Workie
1 Comment
Why we should be proud to invest our savings in real assets!
My blog yesterday on USS attracted a lot of attention on social media and some interesting comment. This from Ros Altmann – a blog in its own right; Excellent piece Henry. There is insufficient differentiation in this DB debate … Continue reading
Posted in actuaries, infrastucture, investment, pensions, Treasury
Tagged investment consultants, long-view, pension schemes, pensions, Ros Altmann, Royal Mail, USS, ]
2 Comments