Monthly Archives: August 2020

Have DB pensions dodged the Beeching bullet?

Posted on August 19, 2020 by henry tapper

When the Pensions Regulator launched its DB funding consultation earlier in the year, I thought it a “slam dunk”.  Back then it was already clear the world was in the grip of a pandemic and the paper presaged what was … Continue reading →

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Taking someone else’s numbers for it. The shortcomings of AoVs.

Posted on August 19, 2020 by henry tapper

  I suffer from pension dreams, these wake me up at odd hours of the morning with questions that I cannot answer. This morning’s question was put to me by someone who bought a pension savings plan from me when … Continue reading →

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Retirement debate overlooks tax-payer funding

Posted on August 18, 2020 by henry tapper

This is another article shared with us by Jim Hennington. There is something very simple about the way that Australians debate pensions and I  found this article informs very well on the ongoing debate we have in the UK. Clearly … Continue reading →

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A user’s guide to AgeWage.com

Posted on August 18, 2020 by henry tapper

As regular readers will know,  I campaign for better information to be made available to savers about their pension pots and to help people understand their pot, have formed a company, AgeWage.  AgeWage.com helps people make sense of their pots … Continue reading →

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Follow Sage Advice and keep an eye out for the Actuary

Posted on August 17, 2020 by henry tapper

I will certainly be following Sage Advice and won’t be deserting Actuary on this showing.  This race should have been sponsored by the Pensions Regulator. Continue reading →

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How regulation suffocated DB pensions (Pt 3) – Clacher and Keating

Posted on August 17, 2020 by henry tapper

 This is the third of a trilogy chronicling how we’ve messed up our defined benefit pension framework. It brings us from the Pension Act 2004 to date Continue reading →

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Beware the colonization of Fin Tech

Posted on August 16, 2020 by henry tapper

One of the more unwelcome approaches AgeWage has had was from an insurer just prior to lock-down. “maybe we should have you as one of ours“, the words still make me bristle six months later. Most large insurers have  hubs … Continue reading →

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Is value for money, the Standard by which we can make sense of pensions?

Posted on August 15, 2020 by henry tapper

Although financial advisers do a great job and  advice usually provides value for the money it costs,  9 out of 10 British adults will take the key financial decisions about their retirement on their own. The FCA wants unadvised individuals … Continue reading →

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What MaPS can learn from Australia’s MoneySmart Retirement Planner

Posted on August 14, 2020 by henry tapper

The Australian Government has built what it calls the MoneySmart Retirement Planner which is a dashboard tool. You plug in your savings in “Super” and tell the planner a little about yourself (and your partner) and within five minutes you … Continue reading →

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We need to take people and their pension savings more seriously.

Posted on August 13, 2020 by henry tapper

There is a section of the FCA’s rulebook  entitled PERG/8/28 which deals with the vexed subject of guidance and advice. . When answering the question “do you give advice?” PERG/8/28 is helpful. The Pension Advisory Service  sees advice as “delivering … Continue reading →

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