Tag Archives: Freedom

Dashboards yes! May Richard Smith get his debate , can we get freedom from pots!

Posted on January 27, 2026 by henry tapper

I am a fan of Richard Smith and all he is doing to help people get back control of their financial lives using dashboards. Like me he believes that pensions should be laid out as pensions not pots and I … Continue reading →

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Is Freedom needed for an epic retirement?

Posted on December 29, 2025 by henry tapper

  I have come to a conclusion after 42 years in pensions that freedom from pensions works for some but only some. David Brown has started a company called Freedom to make it easier to make sense of their savings … Continue reading →

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What does Standard Life’s “affordable pensions advice” say about freedom?

Posted on October 7, 2025 by henry tapper

The deal looks straightforward. You are 3 months from your 55th birthday (or older) and you have a Standard Life pension pot worth £50,000 (or more). You are prepared to pay £1000 (VAT included?) and you get one of 1o … Continue reading →

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Back to work tomorrow Damian? Millions like you to talk to!

Posted on October 5, 2025 by henry tapper

I have followed the retirement of Damian Stancombe from a partner at Barnett Waddingham , through exploration of not having work to a return to work. Yeovil Town had a manager for a few days last month who came and … Continue reading →

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𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤: If Pension Funds Want to 𝐊𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬,

Posted on August 22, 2025 by henry tapper

David Brown  Financial Freedom in Retirement 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤: If Pension Funds Want to 𝐊𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, They Need to Act Like They Want to Keep Them The pensions industry has built 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝-𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 investment infrastructure. But it’s built very little … Continue reading →

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If this is “pension freedom” – I’m a banana!

Posted on April 22, 2022 by henry tapper

Bit of a shock. Looked at works pension summary today. Will have been in 6 years this coming November and only worth £100 more than total contributions #workspension #financialcrisis — Sian Cat 1960 (@LynxLair1960) April 21, 2022 People look at … Continue reading →

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Why “sexy-cash” is still favored over pension income.

Posted on April 14, 2022 by henry tapper

Our obsession with the financial consequences of “dying old” shows a strange behavioural bias. I used to tell my kids I was worth a lot more to them dead than alive! Luckily I am still here to tell the tale!! … Continue reading →

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Freedom – at what cost?

Posted on July 19, 2021 by henry tapper

Rousseau’s famous phrase “man is born free but everywhere is in chains”, will be to the front of many people’s minds today. The true liberal reaction to the pandemic is herd immunity and early blogs from the Covid actuaries explored … Continue reading →

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

Posted on February 23, 2019 by henry tapper

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 henry tapper

  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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