Author Archives: henry tapper

About henry tapper

Founder of the Pension PlayPen,, partner of Stella, father of Olly . I am the Pension Plowman

Why Gen Z are abandoning their pensions – I agree with Tom for a different reason.

Tom has written a great article that appears below and in the Times. I agree that there is good reason to prioritise other things than long-term saving when at work. But our parents insisted we paid the stamp (as my … Continue reading

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I wasn’t black, was at Cambridge and am still prejudiced

I read this story with a sickening feeling of guilt. I was boasting last week that I read English at Cambridge like Andy Burnham and Amy Hunt as if that made me something. Of course it does, it makes you … Continue reading

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2.4m People flexibly accessed Pension Income before Age 65. The Treasury is the Big Winner

This may or nay not be true but whether this was chicanery by the Exchequer of not, there is a lot of money that will not be paid as pension that was incentivised to be so. I’m agreeing with James … Continue reading

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The unions fired up by “collective pensions”

I have to say, I have been surprised and pleased by the interest of union pension officers in what we can now call “collective pensions” (formerly CDC!). There are three dates in my diary to catch up with them. The … Continue reading

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“There’s nothing special about dividends” – says Robin Powell.

This article is important to pensions though it’s aimed at people with portfolios of directly held shares. Pension funds of course don’t pay a dividend, they pay a pension which is an encashment of the fund. But people base their … Continue reading

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Life Insurers promote themselves as different but they dependably deliver the same thing!

Who to believe? Both Scottish Widows and Standard Life are advertising their products with different messages but with the same pictures, pictures of happy clients being supported by human beings and by financial technology. The financial conundrum for insurance companies … Continue reading

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John (JQ) Quarrel , a great lawyer – a great voice speaking for decency in pensions.

This is not a happy end to John Quarrel’s life. I intend to go up north to wish him a better after life. Much went wrong in his later days and Susan and his daughter Helen have stood behind him … Continue reading

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This should appeal to the young professional – get paid at a massive discount on tax!

Works for the hi-paid kids I know. Imagine paying 71% of your pay away when it could provide you deferred pay I don’t think that a Collective Pension excludes anyone. If you are young and you want to pay your … Continue reading

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The Dashboard is cleaning up our data – so we’ll see our retirement wages.

It makes us think;-  the prospect of life with a pension dashboard! If Chris Curry is right, the dashboard has done part of its job- a year from starting. We don’t know when he’ll have it open to the public … Continue reading

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German pensions – this is the big new deal for asset managers

The big story for asset managers in Europe is not CDC or DC or the revival of DB as an investment opportunity, it is German funded pensions.

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