pensionsandsavings.com

  • PENSIONSANDSAVINGS.COM

    From Ros Altmann:economist and pensions,
    investment and retirement policy expert

    • pensionsandsavings.com

    pensionsandsavings.com

    It’s not too late to save the triple lock!

    It’s not too late to save the triple lock!

    Comments 198 comments

    It’s not too late to save vital earnings protection for state pensions – can use adjusted ONS earnings figures of around 3.2%. Government still has time to rethink its panic decision to break Manifesto commitment to keep triple lock.  House of Lords hasn’t yet passed legislation to remove precious earnings link and I hope Ministers will think again – poorest pensioners should not be abandoned as cost of living for them soars.  The ONS announcement of September’s CPI figure need…

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    Government doesn’t need to drop triple lock earnings link

    Government doesn’t need to drop triple lock earnings link

    Comments 5 comments

    Dropping the triple lock earnings linking is a triple broken promise to pensioners. The legislation to abandon earnings protection for poorest pensioners is unnecessary and based on a false premise as scare stories of an 8% pension increase are wrong. I will warn against setting a dangerous precedent in today’s Lords debate and explain how to save over £3billion without jeopardising poorest pensioners, mostly women. The current legislation allows State Pensions and Pension Credit uprating to use ONS adjusted earnings…

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    Care crisis is getting worse – Government needs to take more action now

    Care crisis is getting worse – Government needs to take more action now

    Comments 0 Comment

    House of Lords warns of Government policies that will make the care crisis worse and opposes National Insurance rise for health and care levy.  Raising National Insurance places more burdens on employers and low-earners, while the money will go to NHS rather than being earmarked for social care. Mandatory vaccination rules from November could see over 40,000 careworkers sacked and there are already 150,000 vacancies.  New immigration visas do not cover careworkers, who earn too little to be allowed in…

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    Social care funding reform cannot be achieved equitably or sustainably with a National Insurance rise

    Social care funding reform cannot be achieved equitably or sustainably with a National Insurance rise

    Comments 1 comment

    Social care funding reform cannot be achieved equitably or sustainably with a National Insurance rise – and even worse if the extra money just goes to the NHS. Increasing National Insurance is socially inequitable for funding desperately needed social care improvements which were supposedly finalised in 2019, pre-pandemic. The lowest earners pay National Insurance of 12.8% on £3,000 more of their income than other taxpayers. NI starts around £180 a week, but tax only starts around £240 a week. Pensioners, pensions,…

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    State Pension earnings link in triple lock must not be abandoned

    State Pension earnings link in triple lock must not be abandoned

    Comments 2 comments

    State Pension earnings link in triple lock must not be abandoned. Uprating reflects retrospective inflation but forecast steep price rises will hit poorest pensioners most. Government must not abandon the earnings link in the State Pension uprating calculation:  To abandon the earnings link element of the State Pension triple lock would be a potential disaster for pensions and pensioner poverty.  With the lowest State Pension in the developed world and millions of pensioners already living in poverty, failing to uprate…

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    Dropping the earnings link for state pensions sets a dangerous precedent

    Dropping the earnings link for state pensions sets a dangerous precedent

    Comments 9 comments

    Pensioners are not all well-off, millions rely on the State Pension which is the lowest in the developed world.    Removing the earnings link sets a dangerous precedent that pensioners are a target for cost savings.    Basic state pension was worth 26% of average earnings in 1979, fell to 16.3% by 2010 and is now 19% with new State Pension at 24.8%.    A comprehensive review of pensioner support is needed, not short-term sudden changes in their protection.   It…

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    Chancellor and PM can help pension funds create their Investment Big Bang

    Chancellor and PM can help pension funds create their Investment Big Bang

    Comments 1 comment

    PM and Chancellor are right to encourage UK pension funds to invest more in UK growth projects.    Investment Big Bang could be kick-started at pace and scale by DB pensions more easily than DC, including near £300billion local authority pension assets.    If Government offers a guaranteed return at least equivalent to gilts, DB schemes could invest more freely, boost growth more quickly and help fix their deficits faster.    Long-term Asset Fund can help DC schemes overcome daily…

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    Bank of England must put QE on pause tomorrow

    Bank of England must put QE on pause tomorrow

    Comments 0 Comment

    As Covid pandemic wanes, Bank of England’s emergency policies should be paused.  Money-tree policy has no clear end, but is inflating asset bubbles which may spill over into price inflation.  Global central banks are not even clear that QE is needed as inflation is picking up. QE is still a monetary experiment: When central banks introduced the money-printing idea of ‘quantitative easing’, in the teeth of the financial crisis, the policy was designed to stave off a 1930s-style deflation and…

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    State Pension needs radical overhaul, not short-term tinkering

    State Pension needs radical overhaul, not short-term tinkering

    Comments 4 comments

    Don’t abandon State Pension triple lock just because of one year’s figures.  Triple lock is not a sensible policy – it’s a political construct that has acquired totemic significance.    We need a comprehensive review of all aspects of pensioner support, not constant tinkering with parts of it.  Take the political meddling away and let’s have a sensible retirement income system for all.      State pension triple lock is an inefficient policy tool, but has proved a really potent…

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    Reducing pensioner poverty – over 2 million poor pensioners need encouragement to claim Pension Credit

    Reducing pensioner poverty – over 2 million poor pensioners need encouragement to claim Pension Credit

    Comments 0 Comment

    Worrying rise in number of pensioners living in poverty.   Poverty particularly acute for oldest and single pensioners, those in social rented housing and those from black and Asian backgrounds.  Yet official figures show £1.6billion Pension Credit is going unclaimed each year with nearly a million pensioner households missing out on an average £1600 a year. Delighted to see AgeUK, Len Goodman and Rustie Lee joining calls to improve Pension Credit take-up, which has been stuck at 40% since 2010. Worrying…

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