Category Archives: NEST

Pensions dead by 2050 – taking the Michael?

The Daily Telegraph, which through Richard Evans has started writing sharp and provocative articles on pensions, came out with a corker just before Christmas. I read it on the beach and nearly choked on my sangria! Here it is in … Continue reading

Posted in annuity, Australia, auto-enrolment, David Pitt-Watson, dc pensions, de-risking, defined aspiration, Henry Tapper blog, NEST, Payroll, pension playpen, pensions, Treasury, with-profits | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Auto-enrolment – stay cool – hang loose!

Here’s a technical update for readers getting their companies ready to auto-enrol staff into pensions! The Government has announced new automatic enrolment thresholds for 2013/14 The Government has to review annually the various automatic enrolment thresholds.  On 14 December 2012 the DWP … Continue reading

Posted in actuaries, auto-enrolment, NEST, Payroll, pensions | 4 Comments

A chance to keep companies with DB pensions solvent

Income and Corporation taxes tend to dominate the mindsets of the rich, they are  meaningless to those who don’t pay them. Unsurprisingly, it is the headline aspects of the Chancellor’s autumn statement that have captured the headlines. This small clause was initially … Continue reading

Posted in actuaries, de-risking, happiness, napf, NEST, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Why we don’t need to fear a pension “advice gap”.

Last night it was the House of Lords, this morning it was a Parliamentary Select Committee. Both were concerned that an “advice gap” has been created that will mean poor people do not get financial advice on retirement planning. The argument goes that … Continue reading

Posted in auto-enrolment, dc pensions, NEST, pension playpen, pensions, Popcorn Pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

A defined ambition scheme that would work

Members want two things from their pensions, a decent retirement when they knock off work and certainty that they’ll get it during their working lives. It is extremely expensive to achieve these things and beyond the means of most people. If … Continue reading

Posted in actuaries, annuity, David Pitt-Watson, dc pensions, de-risking, Management, napf, NEST, pensions, Popcorn Pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

NESToration – go boom in that Euro room!

If NEST had been a person Amnesty would have registered it a political prisoner. Continue reading

Posted in Australia, Change, NEST, pension playpen, pensions, Personal Accounts, Retirement | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Opt-outs triggered by smartphones say Legal and General!

Speaking at a private conference for First Actuarial staff, Adrian Boulding said that Legal and General‘s clients were enthusiastic about their staging experience and he went on to suggest that members were much more ready to get information and transact digitally than his firm … Continue reading

Posted in actuaries, auto-enrolment, corporate governance, dc pensions, de-risking, Facebook, First Actuarial, Management, NEST, Payroll, pension playpen, pensions, twitter | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Tsunami – make haste to higher ground!

You don’t need to be particularly clever to work out that in 2013 and 2014 , there are going to be a lot of purchasing decisions by employers if the “victorious” unblemished start to auto-enrolment is to be continued among … Continue reading

Posted in actuaries, auto-enrolment, customer service, dc pensions, NEST, social media | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Is auto-enrolment working? – November Play Pen lunch

On the day that Steve Webb declared victory (tentatively) for auto-enrolment, the Play Pen sat down for a pint and a pie in the Counting House and after a long and rigorous debate concluded that he might be right. The vote among … Continue reading

Posted in auto-enrolment, NEST, pension playpen, pensions, social media, steve webb, The Racket of the Lambs | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Offshore payroll companies – a (pensions) scandal in the making?

Last night’s documentary on @bbc5live has unearthed a potential pensions scandal that should have the Pension Regulator and the DWP springing to action. The problem is this. The Agencies that have supplied teachers and apparently social workers to (local) Government have been … Continue reading

Posted in auto-enrolment, dc pensions, Management, NEST, Payroll | Tagged , , , , , , , | 20 Comments