First we had “Magic (baked) beans”!

Veteran Webb watchers will know that Steve Webb loves his magic beans. Back in 2013 he told Daily Mail readers he would no more introduce a price cap on workplace pensions than on cans of baked beans. He went on to explain that employers chose workplace pensions on a lot more than price. Oh the irony!

Since then , beans have been at the heart of much pension banter and have regularly featured in discussions on anything not grounded in financial economics

Until yesterday I was sceptical about magic baked beans but I now realise they do exist.

Then we had Sexy cash

Those following recent blogs know that Steve Webb started yesterday finding me £40,000 of pension I thought had been lost to Cod and Cope. That’s “sexy cash“.

For the full dramatic story, follow this link!

A few hours later “magic magnetic pensions”!

Having conjured up a full state pension for me in the morning, Steve spent the afternoon wowing the LCP DC conference with further magic with his “magnetic pots”

Which seems to have  generally gone down well.

Bet you wish you could have been there but…

All is not lost!

To my great delight, I discover that next week’s Pension PlayPen coffee morning is to be hosted by me and features Steve Webb talking about (drumroll) “Magnetic Pensions”.

The Government’s ideas to tackle small pension pots through ‘member choice’ or a lifetime provider model have met with a barrage of criticism.

There is little or no time before the Election to legislate for these ideas. So what should the incoming government do instead to tackle this issue?

I have no idea what “magnetic pensions” are , but Steve has just found me £40k’s worth of state pension , so  I’m keen to find out whether I can attract any more loot either from the DWP or private pensions.

Pot follows member’s memorable makeover!

Amongst his many memorable phrases, Steve coined “pot follows member” and he’s always preferred workplace pensions to be chosen by employers rather than savers.

So he’s no fan of the lifetime pot.

Now he’s updated Pot follows Member to “magnetic pensions” , harnessing the allure of the putative pension dashboard.  In his imagining, employers get to keep the workplace pension of their dreams while the saver attracts past pots to it, through Steve’s magnetic personality  the power of the dashboard.

It is all laid out in this neat cut and paste PDF which you can download from the LCP website or scan on this link through the power of Slideshare!

Just like seeing Bruce Springsteen

Last summer you could watch Springsteen at Hyde Park and pay a fortune or watch him at Aston Villa’s  Villa Park. Pay less to  see him play to a proper crowd? Sounded good – I went to both!

It’s the same this summer, you can get up close with no VIP space at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light and it’s half the price of the London gig.

Now , here’s the thing – Steve Webb – a Brummie who supports the Baggies, knows a thing or too about VFM and if you’re a reader of this blog and got this far, you have earned yourself the ultimate in VFM. Pay nothing to watch Webb with a proper crowd!

Watch the pensions Bruce Springsteen perform live on the Pension PlayPen for free-

USE THIS LINK

Unlike watching Springsteen at Hyde Park , you don’t have to pay to be a VIP.  You can get up and personal to the superstar in a proper gig!

Pension PlayPen – 10.30am – Tuesday (next) April 23rd 2024.

If you weren’t at the LCP event , get down and boogie in pension’s Asbury Park!