Today’s big story of course is the Government green paper on the future of the basic state pension. Currently one of the lowest in the developed world it stands at a paltry £97.65 a week (assuming you have a full National Insurance record) rising to a minimum income guraranteed top up figure of £132.60 if you have no other income from other sources such as a company pension scheme.
Posts Tagged ‘old age’
To annuity and beyond
To make up for the dearth of blogs over the past couple of weeks, here’s the second in two days!! Today boys and girls, we are going to talk annuities. The Government, in an effort not to let a day go by without some sort of pension announcement, are expected to call an end to the compulsory purchase of an annuity from pension savings by the age of 75. What’s all that about then I hear you ask.
Closing the Stable Door
So yet another Defined Benefit Scheme closes to future accrual. The Alliance Boots Scheme has announced that it too is joining the exodus from excellent, albeit unaffordable, pension provision into the less risky (from the employers perspective that is) Defined Contribution arena.
Really we should not continue to be surprised every time a ‘household name’ takes this decision. It is as inevitable as the Brits losing at every sport they turn their hands too (except maybe cricket on a good day or snooker but the first is boring and the latter not really a sport at all – and is boring – hm, I detect a pattern developing…)
Operation Successful… but patient dies
In a ‘well who’d ever have thought it…’ kind of moment, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has announced that according to its research, final salary schemes are the cause of more misery for companies than…well…money purchase schemes.
For those of you who find the whole thought of pensions far too depressing and confusing (and let’s face it, that’s most of the population including several pension lawyers of my acquaintance!!) let me try and give a short guide to the difference.
A Rose by any other name…
Axa has announced that it is launching a competition to find a new name for “pensions” after a survey revealed that 18% of respondents associated it with “grey” and 72% of younger people associated it with old age. Well – d’uh…yeah!
It is perhaps this last statistic (or rotten lie -depending on your point of view) that is the most worrying.
The hard sad fact is that unless you have begun some sort of decent non-State pension provision by the age of 30, you are likely to retire in penury come age 65 (or 68, 70, take your pick).
Jennie advises large multi-employer schemes as well as smaller single employer arrangements and has wide experience of both Defined Contribution and Defined Benefit schemes. Jennie qualified in 1986 originally as a criminal prosecutor. She sits as a Magistrate in her local justice area and is an Approved Chairman and Deputy Chair of the Bench Training and Development Committee. Jennie was formerly Legal Director of the Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority. When her busy practice allows, Jennie likes to indulge her passion for travelling. To consult Jennie on any corporate Pensions matter, please call her on +44 (0)20 7749 2700 or send her an email by clicking below: