Category Archives: Personal Accounts
Plumber’s Pensions are safe with Penny Plumb
It’s been a funny week; my firm, First Actuarial, has “won” a number of awards but we don’t feel particularly elated. As one of my colleagues asked me “do we know what we did right?”. Rewarding people for doing outstanding … Continue reading
Posted in actuaries, annuity, auto-enrolment, dc pensions, defined aspiration, pensions, Personal Accounts, Retirement
Tagged Oliver Twist, Plumbing
8 Comments
“Good Retirement Outcomes ” – pension babble?
My friend David Harris got the great, the good and me in an upstairs room in Benjamin Franklin’s old house in Craven Street last night. We discussed what pensions would be like in 2020, my ideas are on this blog … Continue reading
Posted in pension playpen, pensions, Personal Accounts
Tagged Benjamin Franklin, David Cameron, Frank Field, God, Government, Life annuity, pension, Retirement
4 Comments
Do self-employed “workers” know their pension rights?
The self-employed have been marginal to Pension Reform. An obscure section of the 2008 Pension Act makes it possible for them to take part in NEST, however NEST do not advertise they can receive self-employed contributions and I’d be surprised if they have … Continue reading
So you want better pensions?
I’m going to Holland next week to talk to European Fund Managers about how they engage with the UK DC market, it could be a short presentation. Ironically, the Dutch pension system is delivering 50% more pension – per pound … Continue reading
Posted in annuity, auto-enrolment, Change, Management, Martin Lewis, pensions, Personal Accounts, Retirement
Tagged David Pitt-Watson, Dutch, DWP, Holland, Investment management, pension, Steve Webb, Treasury
9 Comments
“The first cut is the cheapest” – transferring legacy pensions
We all know the song. The revised phrase was coined by stockbrokers who’d tell their customers to sell out of a failing stock before it’s price fell again. The phrase use to be sung to Equitable Life policyholders who hung … Continue reading
Auto-enrolment – working out who does what.
The hard part in establishing a process to stage auto enrolment and manage it each payroll period is not working out what needs to be done. Process maps exist that will help you understand the scope and complexity of the task. It’s the … Continue reading
Payroll strikes back!
While the DWP consultations on auto-enrolment was going on , I had a nagging feeling in my stomach, like you do when you vaguely remember there’s something you’ve promised but haven’t delivered – but you can’t remember what it was. At … Continue reading
Posted in auto-enrolment, Bankers, dc pensions, de-risking, defined aspiration, NEST, pensions, Personal Accounts, Public sector pensions
Tagged Accounting, Business, Business and Economy, Computers and Internet, Darling (Blackadder), Financial services, General Melchett, Melchett, NAPF, Payroll, Payroll World Round Table, pension, Small business
3 Comments
Time for a “4G” Pensions auction?
If you want to have a mobile phone company you need a 3G licence which costs money. The Government made a lot of money from selling the use of our 3G radio waves to Vodafone and the like and are set to … Continue reading
Morrison’s “Save our Dough” campaign.
Employers don’t spend money on their staff for fun, Employee benefits need to be cost justified and compete for corporate spend against R&D, dividend payments and M&A. While CEOs like to remind their workforces that they are the company’s most valuable asset, … Continue reading
Selling NEST and auto-enrolment to the pension weary
The issue of fatigue is high on my agenda this morning – especially Regulatory Fatigue. Yesterday the DWP published a host of documents that can be accessed through this link http://www.dwp.gov.uk/consultations/2011/workplace-pension-reform-2011.shtml It dots the “i”s and crosses the “t’s” on a … Continue reading