PENSIONSANDSAVINGS.COM

9 June 2014 Providers cannot be trusted to offer the Government’s Guidance Guarantee  Some may look after customers but too many do not – and they cannot be impartial  As FCA continues its study of the Retirement Income Market customers need reassurance that past failings will not be sanctioned again Providers do not know their customers:  Pension providers cannot be relied upon to offer the Government’s promised free, ‘impartial’ at retirement guidance service.  The Association of British Insurers has suggested that…

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2 May 2014 Cost of local authority pension contributions could be cut by over 10% Proposals to save council taxpayers £660m a year on investment fees Conclusion that active managers are not worth high fees may be contentious Pooling assets could allow more money to go to boost infrastructure Councils paying over £6bn a year into staff pensions: Contributions to local authority pension schemes in England and Wales have quadrupled since 1997 to £6.2bn a year. The scheme benefits have…

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24 April 2014 Is tax relief a good incentive for pension saving? A flat rate 30p or 50p top up is fairer but would add complexity and may not be effective Auto enrolment already offers £ for £ matching In recent days there has been significant focus on the issue of tax relief for pensions.  Tax relief is meant to provide an incentive to encourage people to lock money away into pensions for their future.  It costs huge sums – estimated…

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17 April 2014 Government could set up a life expectancy calculator based on actuarial annuity models Any figure will only be an average – give people a range and regular updates as health changes And tell people how long they will live, not when they will die! Pensions Minister, Steve Webb, has proposed a novel way of helping people plan their retirement finances.  He suggests providing people approaching retirement with information about when they can ‘expect to die’.  This is supposed…

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2 April 2014 Government announces its terms for buying extra state pension – Class 3A National Insurance This looks like a good deal – about half the cost of buying an equivalent annuity Designed for those who reach pension age before April 2016 Will help people who are not included in flat-rate state pension to boost their income  The Government has just announced how much it will cost people to buy extra state pension rights under the proposed new ‘Class 3A’ National…

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