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Taxpayer subsidy for public service pensions to double over 6 years
….queuing for the house of lords This is an article from Michael Johnson. I agree with the numbers but I’m not so sure about the sentiment that lies behind it. As a nation we can afford anything if we...
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Chimp or chump? Fund Managers: Really, Really Bad at What They Do
For some years, First Actuarial have been running a “Monkey League” which pits the wits of 150 top brains against 1000 monkeys; the task, to pick two teams to do well and two to do badly in each of...
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Working for the clampdown?
Most of us work to standards; for me a standard is a target, and as a sales guy I’ve always seen a target as something that needs to be exceeded, I’m competitive and don’t like doing ordinary. And...
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A method to chose your workplace pension scheme.
I’d value your feedback on a scoring system we are developing which aims to provide employers with a method of rating one pension proposition against another. We want it used by employers looking to...
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Those Dutch Pensions – a Civil Servant writes
I get some feedback on my blogs from people I know who don’t want to or aren’t allowed to go public. Here’s an example from a formidable figure and a personal friend (who I know/hope has the skin or a...
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The Regulator’s brilliant auto-enrolment website.
We were sitting last Thursday in the Stonemason’s arms. By “we” I mean the Pension Playpen’s content management team. Most of our number don’t know about pensions - in fact the only person who knows...
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The true and fair way to “cost” your investments
Alan and Gina Miller are good people. They have invested their money, experience and time to develop a website that allows you to work out what you are really paying for your...
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Enough of this silly points-scoring!
Scoring at silly point! We’re all at it and I don’t exclude me. Boys will be boys and give us a Business Development tag on our business cards and we go “all testosterone”. I got dissed last week by...
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It’s not a capacity crunch it’s a traffic jam
If you spend time with workplace pension providers you will hear about crunches, particularly the advisory crunch (too little advice too many employers) and the capacity crunch, (not enough providers...
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All you never wanted to know about that Pension PlayPen GPP
What are you on about now? www.pensionplaypen.com is a website set up to help Britain’s 1.2m employers work out auto-enrolment, adapt their existing workplace pension or get a new one and manage...
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The politics of pensions – how the landscape has changed since 2010.
In retrospect, the May 2010 General Election was momentous for British Pension Policy. The loss of his Eastbourne seat by Nigel Waterson opened a door to Steve Webb that had been kicked ajar by the...
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The trusted word
For as long as I can remember, my parents have subscribed to Which? The subscription is important to them, they like to pay for their information and see their subs as a way to keep Which independent....
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Getting use to managing pensions ourselves
The ideas of personal financial empowerment and independent financial advice grew up hand in hand. But they are mutually exclsusive concepts and ill-matched bedfellows. Now that we have the means to...
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Fund management’s like a car-boot, you’ve got to know what you’re paying (and...
This is a guide to the costs you incur when you purchase your units in a fund; at the end of this guide I explain what other costs go into the purchase of units in a workplace pension fund and how the...
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“What’s it like to be retired?”
It could be the trending chant at any event that Alex Ferguson turns up to – a taunt to a man who having lost control has seen slump into mundanity in a few short months. Financial wellbeing in later...
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Why we expect insurers to bounce back stronger (from these reforms)
I met this fellow yesterday on the road to Pitlochry I’ve just read yesterday’s press release from PWC’s Jonathan Howe commenting on the pension reform announced in this year’s budget. “There is no...
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“Better workplace pensions – further measures for savers”
Blue Skies Ahead Recognise the title? It’s what the DWP chose to call their Command Paper on charges. This paper is not a justification for a charge cap, it’s a new framework for DC pension governance....
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People aren’t stupid- our products are!
Apropos nothing at all I’m taking this comment out of comment so I won’t mention it’s source- it appears on a pensions website and is made by a leading actuary. Our challenge is to find a way to...
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21st Century Retirement Income Update
Well here I am in a Village hotel under the M1 seven miles south of Leeds to chair a day long conference on the opportunities for financial advisers from George Osborne’s Budget Changes (the photo...
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“Who’s on our side?”
I’m having dinner with TV educationalist Alvin Hall, a man almost as well know for being attacked by ostriches as for his charismatic TV appearances. Looking through the list of other guests at the...
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