Tag Archives: pension playpen

Cheltenham 2016 – can it get any better?

  Well I suppose the sun could have shined and it could have been about 15 degrees warmer (like last year) but I’ve never had as good a day’s racing as Day 1 of the 2016 Cheltenham festival! Smug? You … Continue reading

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Hurrah for Cheltenham – hurrah for the Pension Play Pen!

  I think we started the tradition of taking a bus to Cheltenham in 1995. Jonathan Poll and I decided that as Eagle Star was in Cheltenham and Cheltenham hosted the greatest festival of jumps racing the world has ever … Continue reading

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Playing pass the parcel with the pensions time bomb

Experts talk about Australia or the Nordics as countries which have “got pensions right”, but what do they mean by “right”? Can we de-fuse the demographic time-bomb? Or must politicians resign themselves to playing pass the parcel with a suspect … Continue reading

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There’s not much occupational about an occupational pension

The decision of the High Court to overturn the Pension Ombudsman’s ruling that Ms Hughes could take benefits into an occupational pension scheme set up expressly to invest in overseas property may have wider ramifications than outlined in my recent … Continue reading

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“And the language that he used!” Does Workie speak?

  Go to him now, he calls you- you can’t refuse If you ain’t got nothing- you got nothing to lose! Great lines taken out of context from Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone“. The link takes you to a … Continue reading

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And time goes on – and so do I

If this isn’t a line from a Johnny Cash or Hank Williams song, then I may have just written the history of Country and Western in one line! Time does go on, we are now well into the next critical … Continue reading

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Pensions need to be sold for the sausage not the sizzle.

A great observation from Steve Groves, CEO of partnership this morning. @henryhtapper @tcfDAN @clivewaller healthy people were buying to early. Lie expectancy increased 10yrs and annuitisation age didn't move… — Steve Groves (@Sjg3G) January 12, 2016 By “buying” Steve means … Continue reading

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A right to debate or a right to restitution? #WASPI

For many of us, men retire at 65 and women at 60, that was hard coded into our learning like the multiplication tables and it’s clearly quite hard to unlearn. Steve Bee makes a good point on twitter "When is … Continue reading

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What will we remember 2016 for? The Pension PlayPen lunch

The Pension Play Pen lunch group has met every month since December 2008 and is something of an institution at the Counting House. It’s a chance for advisers, pension managers , investment gurus and harmless idiots like me, to spend … Continue reading

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Self-help – Can you “DIY pensions”?

“The instruction manual is missing” – the first thing my partner said when she opened her new smartphone, I’d kindly donated her for Christmas. I was close to having a Michael Winner moment. “That’s because you learn how to do … Continue reading

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