Tag Archives: Open Market Option

Will the Big Society sort pensions?

When people get to their sixties, they are faced with some big choices. There are life-style choices as they face up to their bodies not being able to do what they once did and their brains not being quite as quick as they … Continue reading

Posted in annuity, corporate governance, customer service, dc pensions, de-risking, Fiduciary Management, NEST, Retirement | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Mrs Higham’s letter

There are three things troubling me this morning  – four if you include the outcome of Wales v France in the Rugby World Cup. For the purposes of the next 1,000 words I’ll concentrate on them in reverse order of … Continue reading

Posted in annuity, dc pensions, de-risking, pensions, Retirement | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Yes – things are this bad in DC land!

We all know that equity markets have sent the value of our pension savings into free fall and some people understand that low prospective interest rates mean the amount of pension you can buy from your savings has fallen lower. But did … Continue reading

Posted in annuity, dc pensions, de-risking, pension playpen, pensions, Retirement | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

When “two sevens clash”

When I was a kid growing up in a very white part of Britain, I was fascinated by a guy called Joseph Hill who was predicting a calamity on the 7th July 1977 which pretty well brought to Jamaica to a … Continue reading

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Culling seals

I  have a new phrase in my vocabulary which relates to the activities of financial institutions that take advantage of the inertia of customers. I cannot tell you about the context in which I learned about this phrase as I am … Continue reading

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“Buying a Retirement Income” from an RIP

I’m sure the panelled annuitants or Retirement Income Providers (hereafter known as RIPs) are feeling pretty comfortable about life this morning.

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Posted in annuity, NEST, pension playpen, pensions, Personal Accounts, Retirement | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

A definitive solution to the annuity crisis.

It is time that we started using our existing infrastructure, the PPF, the DWP pension payment system and the ultimate covenant of the UK tax-payer to sort out this mess.

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The Grand old Duke at NEST- he had 5 million men

NEST has spent a good deal of time telling us how it will get its 5 million plus members up the retirement hill but very little on how it will get them down again.

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NEST- the irrefutable case for “Scheme Pensions”.

That we have spent no time discussing the deaccumulation of NEST funds is a scandal. It is time for this subject to be put on the public agenda – if it is not, then NEST should be branded a half-baked project.
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