Tag Archives: Freedom

“We want freedom and choice and we want simplification too”.

Posted on February 23, 2019 by

Pensions. Tax. Benefits. Each over-complex. When combined: lethal. We shouldn’t blame pension freedoms for the mistakes caused by governments’ habit of making everything too complicated. We want freedom and choice and we want simplification too. — Stuart Fowler (@fowlerdrew) February … Continue reading →

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Helping older people with money

Posted on September 22, 2017 by

  I’m pleased to see the FCA publishing a paper on the particular problems older people  have with financial services, I haven’t read it all , only the summary (which I can summarise as the paper does)! The summary rightly … Continue reading →

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Ombudsman 1 – Freedom 0

Posted on April 13, 2017 by

It would seem that Mr T (neither of the A-team or of this blog) has been sent packing by the Pensions Ombudsman. Mr T sued Standard Life’s staff pension trustees to max-up his CETV. He did so using an online … Continue reading →

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Brexit sets our pensions free!

Posted on February 15, 2017 by

We are where we are; Brexit is changing things. Brexit is a disruptor of old certainties and a bringer of new opportunities. The pensions and savings industry has grown fat on the old certainties but is now being confronted by populist … Continue reading →

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DRAWDOWN TAX; I’m as free as a bird (in a cage)

Posted on January 26, 2017 by

  I’m as free as a bird can be when “freedom” is defined and confined by HMRC. “Me” as case study; I have a pension pot which wealth managers call “big” but can only supply me with an income of £15,000 … Continue reading →

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FAKE NEWS – eroding the credibility of pensions.

Posted on January 12, 2017 by

“Yesterday I ran a blog complaining not about fake news but about misinformation accompanying the news. MOMENTUM – hang your head in shame! The news Momentum has is that the vast majority of people over 55 still don’t know when … Continue reading →

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“Brexit penalties” and the price of freedom.

Posted on November 24, 2016 by

What kind of a club charges you £59bn to leave it? If the EU was a pension plan, we’d be screaming about exit penalties. But I suspect we are talking up the cost to highlight the brilliant negotiating tactics of … Continue reading →

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Floundering in the dark – the PP DC Conference

Posted on September 8, 2016 by

De profundis It was a beautiful day and it was a great hotel. But I left the Professional Pensions Defined Contribution Conference profoundly depressed. Perhaps I needed  lux in tenebris (see the progress that is being made elsewhere). The problems created … Continue reading →

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Gain today- pain tomorrow; Ralph Frank on Freedom and Choice

Posted on May 6, 2016 by

    There is a remarkable consistency across each of the policy measures being enacted under the ‘freedom and choice’ banner.  The estimated impact of each measure on the Exchequer serves to accelerate the payment of income tax on the … Continue reading →

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A state of funk! Occupational DC and the pension freedoms.

Posted on March 26, 2016 by

The Pensions Regulator has published an excellent paper outlining the current position of occupational pension schemes towards providing their members with pension freedoms. You can read it here and for its clear language, well developed argument and comprehensive understanding of the … Continue reading →

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