On a day when official statistics revealed another welcome hike in the number of people saving in pensions, the government has just made it harder for savers when they reach retirement. Now, 68 per cent of employees are in a workplace pension scheme. This number is still insufficient and it is clear that part-timers and…
Pensions can be a complex subject. So it is tempting to make the subject into a series of straightforward binary choices. The latest effort in this direction is the publication of research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies for the Work and Pensions Select Committee. This places the public policy choice as the population ages, as…
If dogs resemble their owners, do government documents resemble their Ministers? Since entering office less than a year ago Pensions Minister Richard Harrington has appeared to be non-dogmatic, willing to engage with a wide range of voices and generally distrusting of pensions jargon. His speech to the TUC Pensions Conference was much about his willingness…
The subject of Collective Defined Contribution (CDC) pensions got an unexpected airing at the TUC Pensions Conference last week. The topic was not even on the conference agenda. For, after losing its most high profile backer in former Pensions Minister Steve Webb with the end of the Coalition Government, official policy work on the issue has…
If you mingled among the delegates at the TUC Pensions Conference last week, then you would be sure to hear people chatting about one of the presentations: the barnstorming contribution of Baroness Hollis on women and pensions. The Labour peer gave a robust denunciation of how the pensions system works for women. “Pensions were designed…
The coming year has the potential to see yet another overhaul of pensions saving. Virtually every aspect of the pensions system will come under scrutiny in the coming 12 months But through it all, it is vital that the focus is kept on the overriding policy priority: allowing people a sufficient income in retirement for…
If it wasn’t for companies meeting their obligations to fund defined benefit (DB) pension schemes, average wages would be £1,473 higher, claimed a think tank this morning. It is a compelling argument for many coming after a prolonged period of stagnant wage growth. It is also reminiscent of the sort of thing seen on the…
One of the myths about the State Pension triple lock is that it is somehow a subsidy of the wealthy old by the impecunious young. A report released this afternoon by the studiously neutral, Pensions Policy Institute shows two key things: The triple lock has done the vast bulk of the work in improving pensioner…
The State Pension triple lock has taken another bashing. A committee of MPs has released a report calling for the picking of the arrangement which dates back to 2010. This guarantees that pensions will rise by the higher of inflation (measured by the Consumer Prices Index), average earnings growth or 2.5%. They say: “…the triple lock will…
When is a promise not a promise? In my household, safeguarding of confectionary and sharing of toys are both subject to frequent exemptions. But beyond domestic squabbles, the subject is getting an airing in the pensions world. In the firing line is the defined benefit pension. This is the kind that gives retirees an income…