Tag Archives: DWP

You want to know the difference between RPI and CPI – from an expert?

Posted on May 13, 2017 by

Sometimes twitter just says wow! This is one of those times! Oh this is excellent. I mean seriously excellent. @TheActuaryMag @ProfPensions https://t.co/aJluICOIdk — Mike Harrison (@HigherEdActuary) May 12, 2017   Response to Department for Work and Pensions consultation on Security … Continue reading →

Posted in pensions, actuaries | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

NEST’s dirty laundry on the line!

Posted on April 26, 2017 by

  Thanks to First Actuarial for producing this chart for this blog. Here’s how to read In 2010 when NEST opened , it had no assets – it  had quite a lot of debt (£134m* from setting up days as … Continue reading →

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Time to dig this Government out of its hole?

Posted on March 10, 2017 by

Tax, national insurance and pensions policy should be put in a vault marked “toxic” and should be handled with extreme caution. This morning I have three toxic issues to prove my point. The fiasco of announcing an increase in national insurance … Continue reading →

Posted in auto-enrolment, NEST, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

“What next!?” @NEST

Posted on March 4, 2017 by

Maybe it’s because I’m still in India and have been mysticised, but I cannot believe that NEST’s most recent announcement has not caused a major outcry. I am not talking about the shelving of NEST’s plan to be a provider … Continue reading →

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A business-friendly Pension Green Paper

Posted on February 22, 2017 by

I went to a  talk yesterday  from the CBI’s Carolyn Fairbairn. It was a lot more optimistic on business prospects than I’d expected (having heard her gnashing her teeth following the referendum). To be fair, she was saying then that … Continue reading →

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5 Things I want from today’s DB Green Paper

Posted on February 20, 2017 by

The DWP is due to publish its Green Paper this morning. It’s an important initiative; -our defined benefit schemes are under threat but they have the potential to do much good not just to those in them, but to those who … Continue reading →

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Choosing a workplace pension

Posted on February 19, 2017 by

    Last week, Parliament debated an amendment to the Pension Schemes Bill, suggested by the Shadow Pension Minister and quoting this blog. I am happy to have put words in Alex Cunningham’s mouth, the Government have been cavalier in … Continue reading →

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Small employers need a voice in the AE review

Posted on February 10, 2017 by

Yesterday I reported on the male hegemony of the three chairs of the advisory groups for the Automatic Review. There is a little diversity in the composition of the rest of the group. It’s comforting to see familiar names who … Continue reading →

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Seasonal workers have as much right to a workplace pension as any others!

Posted on January 30, 2017 by

I am surprised and disappointed in the National Farmers Union, lobbying to release farmers from paying auto-enrolment contributions to short-term “seasonal” workers. We are in danger of opening the flood gates here to every part of the gig economy that … Continue reading →

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“Famine or feast pensions”- demand advice is better spread.

Posted on January 17, 2017 by

Where you work not how you work determines your pension prospects. If you choose to work for a blue chip company or for the Government you can expect at worst a high contribution to a workplace pension and at best a … Continue reading →

Posted in accountants, actuaries, advice gap, auto-enrolment, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment