Author Archives: henry tapper

About henry tapper

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

Threescore years and ten; 70’s now the age to retire , not to die!

There’s a murmuring doing the rounds  mocking those of my generation (mid 60’s) who cannot stop working but who know their children wish they would. They result in  announcement of a career end. But these retirement announcements always promise another … Continue reading

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Divorce means pensioner poverty for many of a certain age

Coping with the difference in lifestyle you face in retirement is one thing, maybe it’s not good for marriage. A high number of couples split up rather than go through a changed lifestyle – it would seem. While freedom from … Continue reading

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The Low Earner’s Pension Payments;- now pushed back to 2027 – it’s a scandal.

  Following any email of 9th July HMRC has written to provide an update on the delivery of the Low Earner’s Pension Payment (LEPP). It arrived early in August Yet another delay in the tax-man paying back pension payments They … Continue reading

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What is the future for GPP workplace pensions.

  My DC pot was established with L&G by First Actuarial, my employer at the time of auto-enrolment. We were going to use Prudential but that large insurer which is now offering pensions through M&G had recently withdrawn from writing … Continue reading

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SJP’s right to hold pre-eminence in managing financial affairs of the wealthy questioned

Yesterday I published an article by Gordon Aitken that stood up for SJP after it had taken a stock-marketing beating for losing customers. My argument has consistently been that SJP serves a place in society, they are an expense that … Continue reading

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The complexity of some tax free cash sum payments – and who to go to for answers.

Sensible but technical stuff for the smart and those who have smart advisers! Queries on Lump Sum Payments Dave King Pensions Technical Consultant, Aries Insight April 21, 2026 Across the last couple of weeks, Aries have been asked several questions … Continue reading

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Brian Henderson’s Retirement Value Scorecard – for the smart and smart advisers.

Yesterday I published Brian Henderson’s brilliant thoughts on Value for Money as a way of helping individuals determine for themselves what is their best way forward at retirement. He converts the current VFM assessments to a tool known as Retirement … Continue reading

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Brian Henderson asks whether CDC gives you better VFM than DC – it depends!

   You can download the document for yourself from here. Here is Brian’s introduction on social media

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Some thoughts on the SPP’s “Home Truths; Rethinking Retirement Wealth”

  You can read the SPP paper here The UK must stop treating pensions and housing as separate policy issues to address the growing retirement adequacy challenge, the Society of Pension Professionals (SPP) has argued. They’re bang on In a … Continue reading

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Being all things to everyone’s annoying – Aon should not annoy DWP/HMT

This was a week when Aon brought employers “all things to all private sector employers” All private companies run workplace pension schemes so Aon run a product for every pension saver. The net accessible market for Aon is every employer … Continue reading

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