Ros Altmann – Page 19 – pensionsandsavings.com

Pensions are far better than Lifetime ISAs – Treasury Committee is right to recommend abolition

July 26, 2018 Ros Altmann Comments 0 Comment

Treasury Select Committee is right to recommend abolition of Lifetime ISA. Also right to suggest abolition of pensions Lifetime Allowance. Just have limit on annual contributions without penalising investment success. Lifetime ISA is unhelpful and confusing: I welcome the Treasury Select Committee’s recommendation to abolish the Lifetime ISA (LISA). (link here: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmtreasy/565/56510.htm ) The LISA is a hybrid product that can be used to save for house purchase or for later life. These two aims should be kept separate, rather…

Read More Read More

Success for HPV ‘Jabs for the Boys’ campaign

July 26, 2018 Ros Altmann Comments 0 Comment

Brilliant news – success for HPV ‘Jabs for the Boys’ campaign. Government to vaccinate all boys to prevent future cancer and save lives. Congratulations to Department of Health for announcing decision quickly. The new Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has made the brilliant announcement that the NHS will vaccinate all young boys, as well as girls, against the HPV virus which causes a range of cancers and serious illnesses in later life. HPV is one of the…

Read More Read More

Vital pension and retirement policies delayed – perhaps casualties of Brexit

July 23, 2018 Ros Altmann Comments 0 Comment

As Parliament breaks for the Summer, there are vital issues left in abeyance. Preparing for later life is essential in our aging population, but policies are on hold. Delays in dealing with social care funding leave a worsening care crisis all around us. Pensions Dashboard, cold-calling ban and ensuring low earners aren’t overcharged have all been delayed, despite the urgency. Over the past year, Ministers have promised a raft of measures designed to help people build up better pensions, improve…

Read More Read More

Pension Dashboard problems could be solved with the right technology

July 19, 2018 Ros Altmann Comments 0 Comment

Ros Altmann to Chair pensionsync – a ‘hidden gem’ pensions fintech firm. As Government backs away from Pensions Dashboard, partly due to costs and data unreliability, new technology, developed by private sector can revolutionise auto-enrolment administration. Automating pension contributions saves time, saves money, improves accuracy and enhances GDPR compliance, giving people cheaper pensions for the future. Some day all pensions should be done this way! I am delighted to announce my appointment as Chair of award-winning fintech specialist pensionsync –…

Read More Read More

Discrimination against older workers

July 17, 2018 Ros Altmann Comments 3 comments

Older workers – especially women – face damaging discrimination in the jobs market. Parliamentary Committee calls for action against recruitment industry for breaches of equality law. Many older women excluded from the world of work face poverty as state pension age rises. Calls for improved efforts to Retain, Retrain and Recruit older workers. The Commons Women and Equalities Committee inquiry into employment for older people contains damning findings of age discrimination in the workplace. It concludes that ageism in the…

Read More Read More

Pensions cold-calling ban delayed again – despite the urgency

June 29, 2018 Ros Altmann Comments 0 Comment

The much-promised pensions cold-calling ban, legislated for a few months ago and promised to come into effect by end June, is not ready on time. The Regulations required to implement the ban have not been laid, so the timetable will not be met. The need for a ban is widely recognised. The sooner cold-calling for pensions is outlawed, the sooner people will be better protected against being scammed and losing their life savings. So many people have already suffered from…

Read More Read More

FCA moving in the right direction on pension freedoms at last

June 28, 2018 Ros Altmann Comments 1 comment

Pension Freedoms not yet working properly as millions have no independent guidance or advice. FCA study highlights need to redesign drawdown for new customer profiles. Regulator demands better investment options, cost transparency and threatens to cap charges. Wake-up packs at age 50 and standard ‘pensions passport’ are major improvements. New regime not working well for customers as providers fail to innovate: The FCA’s latest report on how pension freedoms have impacted the retirement income space shows that there is…

Read More Read More

Funding crisis of elderly care services

May 29, 2018 Ros Altmann Comments 2 comments

This blog is an extended version of my letter published in today’s Times. Click here to view. May I offer some essential considerations for long-term solutions to the fragmentation and funding crisis of elderly care services, following recent reports by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, among others (Comment article by Paul Johnson). In the 1940s, William Beveridge designed the NHS as a ‘make-you-better’ service, offering acute interventions that cure patients who can resume normal life. It was never intended as…

Read More Read More

Digital Discrimination leaves millions of older people at risk

May 23, 2018 Ros Altmann Comments 6 comments

AgeUK finds Government guilty of digital age discrimination leaving millions of older people at risk of poverty. Elderly citizens denied benefit entitlements because they can’t cope online need special help. Be proud that Britain is leading many technological advances, but this risks older generations being increasingly marginalised by society. 3.8million older people in Britain today have never used the internet: Many of us are so used to online connections that we are in danger of forgetting how fast the technological…

Read More Read More

Don’t hit older workers to pay for social care – need a solution that is fair across and within generations

May 7, 2018 Ros Altmann Comments 0 Comment

Forcing pensioner workers to pay National Insurance is not a solution to care funding crisis Imposing new National Insurance on just one group introduces new unfairness and could be politically damaging Pensioners are not entitled to many of the benefits that National Insurance covers Working past pension age should be encouraged, not penalised to pay for other people’s care How could Government justify forcing pensioner workers to fund other people’s social care while non-working pensioners on huge pensions pay no…

Read More Read More