Category Archives: Financial Education

PlayPen votes for target date funds in action-packed lunch

In one of the noisiest and most passionate lunches we’ve ever had the playpen voted 15-7-3 for TDFs vLifestyle with 3 spoilt votes from the “we don’t do default” gang. This was a lunch where we were pretty well split between … Continue reading →

Posted in auto-enrolment, de-risking, Financial Education, pension playpen, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

“Stick or twist” for the lifecos.

It is hard for the insurers to twist because they think the dealer’s against them. Continue reading →

Posted in annuity, auto-enrolment, customer service, David Pitt-Watson, dc pensions, EU Solvency II, Financial Education, Henry Tapper blog, pension playpen, pensions, Personality, Popcorn Pensions, Retail Distribution Review, Retirement, social media | Tagged , , , , , , , | 21 Comments

Taxpayer subsidy for public service pensions to double over 6 years

This is an article from Michael Johnson. I agree with the numbers but I’m not so sure about the sentiment that lies behind it. As a nation we can afford anything if we chose to prioritise the spending and we … Continue reading →

Posted in Financial Education, First Actuarial, pensions, Public sector pensions, Royal Mail, smelly | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Paying as you earn; the best way to save

Monday will see the start of the benefits changes that will climax in the full introduction of the Universal Credit in a year’s time. This is not an article about these changes. But it takes it kicks off from a brilliant … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, dc pensions, Financial Education, Martin Lewis, Payroll, pension playpen, pensions, St Paul's, Trades Union Congress, wonga | Tagged , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

Interesting….spin is self-defeating

every time we say one thing and mean another, we are creating distrust in the person who we are talking or writing to Continue reading →

Posted in brand, Financial Education, Henry Tapper blog, pension playpen, pensions, Personality, poetry | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

When pensions de-mutualise

When you take the mutuality out of pensions , you take good pensions out of mutuals. Continue reading →

Posted in actuaries, auto-enrolment, de-risking, defined aspiration, Financial Education, First Actuarial, John lewis, Liability Driven Investment, Management, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

How the banks try to f*ck us – and how we deal with them

It’s Sunday morning and I am reading a poem written around 1936 by Ezra Pound. It is about Usury , in this context the bad practice of the Medici Bank which Pound claimed screwed up the great artistic achievements of medieval … Continue reading →

Posted in economics, ezra pound, Fiduciary Management, Financial Education, Fred Goodwin, governance, happiness, pensions, poetry, Popcorn Pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Tomorrow’s problems today..the OFT on pensions

Answers on an e-postcard to http://www.oft.gov.uk/OFTwork/markets-work/pensions Continue reading →

Posted in auto-enrolment, Financial Education, pensions, Popcorn Pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Cobblers shoes – how an adviser selects a pension for its staff

If we can find a pension provider that knows what “good” is, I will be pleased. But I worry whether that may be as much a challenge for us. Continue reading →

Posted in actuaries, Financial Education, First Actuarial, pensions, Retirement, social media | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments