Monthly Archives: July 2020

“Gonna break out of the City” – and retire to a very cheap house in the country

Posted on July 31, 2020 by henry tapper

  No song was more thrilling to me as a 15 year old than Eddie and the Hot Rods “do anything you wanna do!”. Its opening line is quoted in the title of this blog and you can hear Eddie … Continue reading →

Posted in age wage, pensions, Retirement | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Did active managers protect us from the pandemic? American research says “NO!”

Posted on July 31, 2020 by henry tapper

    Are active fund managers working harder for us through the pandemic?  Not according to an analysis of mutual fund returns and flows. It seems that what has served investors well is being in funds investing in  equities that … Continue reading →

Posted in advice gap, age wage, pensions | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Investing in the right place

Posted on July 30, 2020 by henry tapper

I am very pleased to hear about a new project designed to get pension schemes investing in the right place. You can read about it here It’s an initiative that impacts us all, we all pay council tax or at … Continue reading →

Posted in ESG, leadership, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Why I’m changing my mind about NEST

Posted on July 30, 2020 by henry tapper

Nest nudge pension freedoms to one side https://t.co/QTwvZDVnKt via @henryhtapper – we don’t have a NEST equivalent in Australia – and it’s starting to look like a significant oversight in the evolution of our #superannuation system. @NESTInsight — Jeremy Cooper … Continue reading →

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Nest nudge pension freedoms to one side

Posted on July 29, 2020 by henry tapper

Are you saving into NEST? Around 8 million Brits are and I’m currently one of them. I was looking at what AgeWage signed me up to and found out some surprising things Firstly I am soon to turn 60 and … Continue reading →

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Retirement – where is thy sting?

Posted on July 28, 2020 by henry tapper

At over 2600 words, this is the longest comment to appear on this blog. It is written by Gareth Morgan who’s focus is not on “wealth” but on the alleviation of poverty. This blog is his critique, not of Pensions … Continue reading →

Posted in pensions | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Do you want to insure or pay more tax for your care costs?

Posted on July 27, 2020 by henry tapper

It is good that the Government is looking again at long term residential and home care in the UK.  We need to be clear about the option open to Government and these are now being rehearsed. These articles are often … Continue reading →

Posted in advice gap, pensions | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

How can pensions be giving savers VFM but not be dashboard ready?

Posted on July 27, 2020 by henry tapper

  Outcomes for dough, portals for show! Over the weekend, I’ve been thinking about how I can judge the quality of service I receive from my pension provider. As a consumer there are a number of things I would like … Continue reading →

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The mess we’re in (pt.1) and how we got here.

Posted on July 26, 2020 by henry tapper

Iain  Clacher and Con Keating Since their heyday in the 1990s, UK occupational DB schemes have been winding up at a rate of about one every two days. Their replacement, DC schemes, are a poor substitute; they are tax-advantaged savings … Continue reading →

Posted in accountants, actuaries, advice gap, pensions, trustee | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

How Pension Providers become winners in a data driven world

Posted on July 26, 2020 by henry tapper

Data requests are a key measure of  “quality of service”. This is a sister piece to my blog for pension consumers published here.  Under GDPR, consumers are entitled to their pension data in a timely fashion. In a test last … Continue reading →

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