Tag Archives: Freedoms

Is the tide turning in favour of pensions?

Posted on November 26, 2018 by

As we reach the last few weeks of the year, I’ve been looking at the stories that are dominating the pension landscape and increasingly they are positive. Despite UK and global equity markets being down on the year, pensions are … Continue reading →

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

Payroll are tomorrow’s Pension Experts!

Posted on October 11, 2018 by

I spoke at the CIPP Conference at the National Exhibition Centre at what payroll can do to help staff understand pensions and in particular – the pension freedoms. Here are my slides I think there are three things that hold … Continue reading →

Posted in Payroll, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

CDC – the nuclear fission of the pension system.

Posted on January 2, 2018 by

  The way we safeguard our pensions today This blog looks at the different way people are protected from mischief depending on what type of retirement savings plan they are in. I’m thinking about this because I have various meetings … Continue reading →

Posted in actuaries, advice gap, CDC, defined ambition, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Are defaults enough? Or do we need compulsion?

Posted on March 7, 2017 by

  Well I’m back from 10 days in India where I saw the very rich and the very poor but not much in the middle. I saw some very fine architecture which showed me what can be done when people … Continue reading →

Posted in pensions | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Was DC the only choice for the Tata Steelworkers?

Posted on February 16, 2017 by

      Speaking on the radio yesterday, John Ralfe called the decision of Tata Staff to accept the loss of future accrual into a final salary scheme in exchange for a 10% contribution into a DC pension fund as … Continue reading →

Posted in actuaries, advice gap, FinTech, Jersey, pensions, Pensions Regulator, Politics, pot | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Doesn’t pension freedom extend to Defined Benefits?

Posted on October 18, 2016 by

The debate about the assumptions we use to decide the state of our defined benefit schemes is in full swing. On the one hand you have those, like John Ralfe who use an approach which ensures that there’s always enough … Continue reading →

Posted in pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Supply-side woes , buy-side goes; the disappearing pension billions

Posted on June 17, 2015 by

It’s not hard to spend a billion, not if you’re a nation that knows how to spend but finds it hard to save. As Osborne found, a generation of planning can be unwound in a minute. Were the tax rules … Continue reading →

Posted in pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Let my pension go!

Posted on June 5, 2015 by

Pension Fiction? Friends Life has (in it’s new Aviva colours) decided to U-turn and not offer people the freedom of the bank account to its personal pension policyholders. Ros Altmann has laid into the insurance industry- as Pension Minister – and … Continue reading →

Posted in pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Is commission really dying?

Posted on June 4, 2015 by

There has been nothing that has so harmed the image of pensions over the past thirty years as the deception of commission. I don’t want to use phrases such as “lack of transparency” or words like “opacity” words like these … Continue reading →

Posted in annuity, Payroll, pension playpen, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Aren’t pensions worth a mention in this election?

Posted on April 25, 2015 by

Why has there been so little comment this election campaign on pensions? When the rabbit came out of the hat in #Budget2014, many thought the freedom of pensions was the Conservatives great “retail offer”. Has Steve Webb diluted its political … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, welfare | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments