Christmas finds Germany enthused by Richard Smith. We want him back in Britain for the new year.
There is a good argument for advertising good news for the public by a Government keen to be well-regarded by the same.
It won’t be till the end of 2026 that a new type of pension will be launched then (CDC) and the launch of dashboard and CDC may coincide, both pension rather than savings initiatives.
After 20 years moving to advertising pensions as “wealth” and retirement income as “pots”, there will be a re-education of our population about what pensions are before.
Another coincidence will be the arrival of a tax on unused pension pots that have (till then) been outside the grasp of inheritance taxes. From April of 2027 unused pots which have not been swapped for a pension or an annuity will be taxable and may in some circumstances be taxed.
The intention of the Government is to have pots drawn by default either as CDC pensions, annuities or by drawdown with protection against people living too long for the pot. I will add a fourth option which is available to people who are within a year of joining a public sector scheme (including LGPS) , these people can move pots into their pension schemes and get an inflation linked pension (with no caps on the inflation unlike most private DB plans).
My suggestion to the Pensions Minister is that the Government gets behind the Pension Awareness Campaign in Oct/Nov next year and makes it clear to people what is coming up.
My suggestion is that Mr Richard Smith is awarded at least an OBE and most properly a knighthood for the work he has done to get us pension dashboard ready!
Makes everyone an enthusiast