pensionsandsavings.com

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

    • pensionsandsavings.com

    pensionsandsavings.com

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    Category: Pensions

    A U-turn on pensioner Winter Fuel Payments is a bit of light perhaps but no actual heat

    A U-turn on pensioner Winter Fuel Payments is a bit of light perhaps but no actual heat

    Comments 1 comment

    A U-turn of sorts but scant comfort for most pensioners. Today’s announcement at PMQs that the Prime Minister now wants ‘to ensure that, as we go forward, more pensioners are eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment’ gives no detail, no timescale and is just an aspiration that will depend on it being ‘affordable’. This still leaves millions of pensioners, many of whom are struggling to make ends meet and wondering whether they will get any help. I’m pleased if there…

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    Power of pensions can be game-changer for UK growth

    Power of pensions can be game-changer for UK growth

    Comments 0 Comment

    Government should embrace bold pension reforms as a radical game-changer for UK growth. At least 25% of each pension fund originates from tax reliefs and 25% can be taken tax free, so Government should require at least 25% of new contributions to invest in Britain. Tax reliefs cost over £70billion each year, so pension funds should invest more here, rather than allocating most of the money to boost other countries, not Britain. The gross reliefs to UK pensions each year…

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    Ros responds to IHT consultation proposing simple flat-rate 20% levy to avoid complexity

    Ros responds to IHT consultation proposing simple flat-rate 20% levy to avoid complexity

    Comments 3 comments

    Government’s proposals for draconian inheritance tax on pension funds will be disastrous – there are much better ways to raise revenue, including a flat-rate 20% levy.  In her response to Treasury consultation taxing unused pensions, Ros Altmann warns of dangers in current proposals and suggests flat-rate 20% inheritance levy instead, giving simpler, fairer rules and less damage to future DC pension. Ros Altmann’s response to the consultation makes clear that the current proposals will be disastrous for all involved in…

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    WASPI women – not a penny

    WASPI women – not a penny

    Comments 9 comments

    Government disappoints millions of WASPI women.  Government refuses to pay any of them anything, despite parliamentary ombudsman findings of maladministration.  Many are in serious hardship and I would have liked to see them helped.  But after taking away winter fuel payments with no notice from the poorest pensioners, clearly pensioners are not a priority. The Government has today disappointed millions of women in their mid-sixties and early seventies. Government rejects Parliamentary Ombudsman The so-called WASPIs (Women Against State Pension Inequality),…

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    Ending employer NI relief, especially if only for private sector, would be disastrous

    Ending employer NI relief, especially if only for private sector, would be disastrous

    Comments 1 comment

    Ending National Insurance relief only for private sector employer pension contributions is unjustifiable.  If public sector schemes can’t cope with ending this relief, it is a clear indication that private sector schemes will struggle and this change should not happen at all.  Damaging private sector workers, and their employers, while forcing them to pay for even better public sector pensions, would be a serious mistake.  Abolishing National Insurance relief for employer pension contributions may sound attractive in theory, but in…

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    Winter Fuel Payments votes in Parliament are a chance to reconsider this irresponsible decision

    Winter Fuel Payments votes in Parliament are a chance to reconsider this irresponsible decision

    Comments 18 comments

    On Wednesday, I will be asking Peers to agree to cancel these regulations and help protect the most vulnerable who are undoubtedly being put at risk by having money taken away that they need to ensure they can heat their homes this winter. Having listened to the Prime Minister ‘s interview attempting to justify the decision, he is clearly not aware of the facts. It is simply not the case that those pensioners most in need will continue to get…

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    £6 a week extra state Pension from next April won’t replace £300 lost this November!

    £6 a week extra state Pension from next April won’t replace £300 lost this November!

    Comments 0 Comment

    Treasury estimates of a 3.5% rise in state pension next April cannot compensate the poorest pensioners for losing £200 or £300 this November. The Treasury has produced estimates of an expected state pension increase next year which suggest it will increase by around 3.5% in line with average earnings. This triple lock earnings link will add about £6 or £8 a week to the full Basic and New State Pensions. This represents an estimated £300 or £400 a year more…

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    Further thoughts on Winter Fuel Payment withdrawal

    Further thoughts on Winter Fuel Payment withdrawal

    Comments 2 comments

    Trying to increase pension credit take up will overload DWP capability and claims will not be handled in time for November: The drive to increase take up won’t work and will still leave millions out.   With hundreds of thousands of pensioners potentially eligible for Pension Credit but not yet claiming and perhaps up to 2 million more with incomes only a little above the threshold who might now try to apply and find themselves rejected, it is inevitable that…

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    More thoughts on Winter Fuel Payment withdrawal – where is the impact assessment?

    More thoughts on Winter Fuel Payment withdrawal – where is the impact assessment?

    Comments 13 comments

    BALANCING THE NATION’S BOOKS ON THE BACKS OF LOW INCOME PENSIONERS IS THE WRONG POLITICAL CHOICE – A PROPER IMPACT ASSESSMENT IS NEEDED. Pensioners may take the Government line – ‘I can’t afford heating so I can’t turn it on’, putting them at risk of illness and increasing pressure on health and care services. Proper detailed review needed – targeting the poorest with means-testing is impossible and the cliff-edge leaves those just above the threshold much poorer than others who…

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