Category Archives: happiness

Isn’t this what millennials really want in the workplace? @locktoninfo

Posted on August 4, 2017 by

Although Pension PlayPen and First Actuarial do our work for employers and trustees, we rely on our partner- Lockton – to do the heavy lifting on workplace benefits. Here’s the first of two articles on what they’re research tells them … Continue reading →

Posted in advice gap, Financial Education, governance, happiness, pensions | 3 Comments

Strange ideas – Con Keating debunks pension’s received wisdom

Posted on November 14, 2016 by

A number of extremely strange beliefs have emerged in the course of correspondence arising from earlier articles that introduced methods for the evaluation of pension liabilities which do not invoke any external factor. Take the idea of using market prices … Continue reading →

Posted in accountants, actuaries, happiness, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Magic beans and “negative capability”

Posted on March 22, 2015 by

Negative capability describes the capacity of human beings to transcend and revise their contexts. If we dismiss it as “magic beans” we are committed to repeating the mistakes of the past – and- as we all know – that way is madness. Continue reading →

Posted in Change, corporate governance, drawdown, Financial Education, happiness, Pension Freedoms | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Any questions on the Guidance Guarantee?

Posted on October 12, 2014 by

  This blog is about a conversation I had with the Pension Advisory Service. Following it I promised to feed back questions to TPAS about the Guidance Guarantee. The blog contains questions I want asking , some background on TPAS and … Continue reading →

Posted in advice gap, Guidance, happiness, Retirement | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

If we can provide health screening – we can provide pension guidance

Posted on July 28, 2014 by

  Organising the Guidance Guarantee is a daunting task but it is no more daunting than many public welfare initiatives. Each year the NHS screens and advises millions of us on a variety of health issues. From STDs to Breast … Continue reading →

Posted in advice gap, happiness, Henry Tapper blog, Management, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Governance not glumervance

Posted on April 11, 2014 by

I am for good DC governance but I am not for DC glumervance. Glumervance is “glum governance” as preached by the puritan new model trustee. This is how on trustee firm explained the new measures for savers in the DWP Command Paper “the … Continue reading →

Posted in advice gap, happiness, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Are workplace pensions all the same?

Posted on December 28, 2013 by

I don’t believe that the majority of the workplace pension providers in the market today are ready to give up on innovation,competition and reputation. Continue reading →

Posted in happiness, Henry Tapper blog, pensions, steve webb | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A race to the top?

Posted on December 12, 2013 by

We will not get this problem sorted out in a meeting room in the DWP, though the DWP can clear the decks and allow us to operate with a clean sheet of paper. Continue reading →

Posted in actuaries, annuity, CDC, Change, dc pensions, de-risking, defined aspiration, happiness | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Ten sexy stats that drive pension firms wild!

Posted on May 27, 2013 by

But if you think your workforce special, you’ll want to get a whole of market quote. You wouldn’t insure your business assets or your liabilities any other way. Continue reading →

Posted in advice gap, auto-enrolment, dc pensions, happiness, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

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

Posted on March 10, 2013 by

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