We are confidently predicting that the Government will be making an announcement on the pensions dashboard on Monday morning. (December 3rd 2019)
Since the announcement meeting is 11.30 – 12.30 and since the Pension PlayPen lunch starts at 12.30, I will be arriving at the Counting House – hot from a bike run – shortly before 1pm. I suggest that we move our normal timetable back 30 minutes and aim to finish around 2pm
If you want to be the first to hear the news, then I’ll have all the stuff in my sweaty mitts and will share over the next hour.
Fate rarely conspires such happy timing and I hope that all the “dashboardistas” – eager to know first hand the machinations of the DWP in this long running saga, will meet in the Partners Room of the Counting House- 50 Cornhill , (200 yards east of Bank Station).
As ever, the bill will be shared between participants and as usual I will underwrite over-spend occasioned by over-exuberant pre-ordering. Expect to pay £15 to eat and drink and you can opt out of both or either if you just want to be a part of the event.
What can we expect?
It’s been well flagged that the Government are going to finally publish the long-delayed feasibility study together with a consultation on what should happen next.
What happens next appears to be a multi-dashboard portal-fest but a single pension finding service. I’m against a single pension finding service and will no doubt have the opportunity to say so in the consultation.
When can we expect a proper pension finding service?
While the dashboard has caught the popular imagination, the tough bit is finding out where the £20 billion of lost money is and the getting on for 50m abandoned pots.
The delays are sad because there are people who have money but don’t know it. These people may right now be living a rubbish life for want of money in retirement. We can’t let this go on.
As for those of us still to retire, we need to feel ownership of our finances and until we can get a single picture of what we’ve saved, what we’re getting from the state and how a cashflow plan – we’re in the dark.
Many of us aspire to use these dashboards for ourselves and to help others to use them for themselves. Some are doing this now – hats off to Pension Bee for example.
But for the most part, 2018 has been a wasted year, let’s have a drink on Monday to 2019 being a better one!
