Category Archives: annuity

Are DB pensions benefiting from CETV de-risking?

Posted on March 26, 2018 by henry tapper

  It’s a fair question for a blogger to ask. I don’t have the answer and suspect that you’d get a different reply depending on who you asked. Here are the facts According to Hymans Robertson , The total value … Continue reading →

Posted in annuity, Big Government, BSPS, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

“Too prudent for its own good” – how under-risking DB schemes causes new problems.

Posted on March 25, 2018 by henry tapper

Someone , somewhere on the multiple threads surrounding USS, has asked me if I think that transfers out of USS are likely to be the next miss-selling scandal.  I think it unlikely, and to explain why, I need to explain … Continue reading →

Posted in actuaries, advice gap, annuity, pensions | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Something “DC” that John Ralfe and I agree on!

Posted on March 19, 2018 by henry tapper

I sometimes think John and I will never agree, I am forever looking at the world half full and he “half empty”, where I see opportunity, he sees danger, where he sees certainty, I see parsimony. But when John posted … Continue reading →

Posted in annuity, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Transfer carnage at BSPS – the truth revealed

Posted on March 16, 2018 by henry tapper

The full impact of transfers on the British Steel Pension Scheme has been revealed in this perfunctory tweet The British Steel Pension Scheme has paid just over £1.5bn from around 4000 DB transfers to date. Around 3700 transfers still to be processed. … Continue reading →

Posted in annuity, BSPS, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Time for a DC upgrade?

Posted on February 16, 2018 by henry tapper

I was wading through yet another long and technical explanation of CDC  when I got my Eureka moment! I don’t want a CDC plan, I want a DC upgrade! I’m not dissing legal eagle Sandeep Maudgil (who’s soon to appear … Continue reading →

Posted in annuity, CDC, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Ways of staying financially strong in later life

Posted on February 1, 2018 by henry tapper

I normally write about money, particularly about saving for retirement. Over the last couple of evenings, I’ve been lucky enough to attend two excellent discussions, not about saving, but about creating an infrastructure around you in later years that makes those … Continue reading →

Posted in advice gap, annuity, economics, pensions, Popcorn Pensions | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Has the hardest nastiest problem in finance just got a little easier?

Posted on January 1, 2018 by henry tapper

I enjoyed reading this serious and sensible argument by Steven Lowe of “Just”.  I suspect that most financial advisers reading it will conclude, as I do, that planning an income for the final years of someone’s life is so fraught that (if … Continue reading →

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The legitimate concerns of BSPS members

Posted on October 25, 2017 by henry tapper

‘ From the little time I have spent talking online with BSPS members, I have been impressed with the matter of fact way they are dealing with the choices presented to them. Here is a case study of the complexity faced … Continue reading →

Posted in annuity, Bankers, BSPS, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , | 14 Comments

You wait years for good pension communications and then…..

Posted on October 19, 2017 by henry tapper

All the best documents can be digested at a glance- think P60 ( or P45 if you’re more used to them)! Simple lay-out , necessary information, few words, maximum impact as it’s all there on one sheet. You wait years … Continue reading →

Posted in advice gap, annuity, later life, pensions | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

It’s not “advice v guidance”; it’s “advice v selling”.

Posted on September 20, 2017 by henry tapper

  I have in my hand a little A5 leaflet from the Pensions Advisory Service , entitled Advice and Guidance ; Recognising the difference. I will try to get an electronic link to it but for now you’ll have to … Continue reading →

Posted in advice gap, alvin hall, annuity, pensions | 3 Comments