July 2021
29Jul

UK. We need more retirement products to help DC savers

In its first nine years, auto-enrolment’s incredible success has been built on how much people have been able to save into their pension pots. Now the time has come to give serious consideration to how this new generation of savers will turn these savings into a reliable pension income. This is because in the next decade people reliant on defined contribution workplace pensions to supplement the state pension will start to retire in large numbers. What this means is that policymakers and...

July 29, 2021
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28Jul

UK. Consultation risks taking DC pension consolidation ‘too far, too fast’

The Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) most recent consultation on further consolidation in the defined contribution (DC) pension market risks taking consolidation “too far, too fast”, according to Hymans Robertson. In its response to the consultation Future of the DC pension market: the case for greater consolidation, Hymans Robertson warned that taking consolidation further and faster would be “counter-productive”, and reduce competition and innovation. “Since DC took over from defined benefit (DB) as the main source of pension provision in...

July 28, 2021
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26Jul

UK. Triple lock is far from the biggest pension issue on government’s plate

One of the realisations of reaching an age when you are beginning to plan the details of what to do when you finally stop work is how much those preparations are affected by decisions made by others, over which you have limited control. Chief among them is the issue of money. The income you retire on is a key determinant in what happens next: how comfortable your life will be and what compromises you need to make to get through...

July 26, 2021
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26Jul

Will the online pensions revolution take off?

Senior citizens and coins in glass jars are some of the common themes you find when you look up ‘pensions’ on an image search engine. But in recent years the industry has been catching the attention of fintechs. In June, Plum announced it was expanding into retirement savings with the launch of a self-invested personal pension, two months after PensionBee floated on the London Stock Exchange. Both providers, and others such as Moneybox and Penfold, to name a few, enable savers...

July 26, 2021
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23Jul

UK. Can CDCs solve the pension funding problem?

Defined-benefit (DB) pension schemes have been in decline for years and in most professions younger employees are offered defined-contribution (DC) schemes, which lack many of the former's benefits. But a new option aims to deliver the best of both types of pensions. This week, the government has issued a consultation on draft legislation for Collective Defined Contribution (CDC) Schemes, spurred on by Royal Mail (RMG) which had been lobbying for new legislation to accommodate CDCs since 2018. CDC pensions work by...

July 23, 2021
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22Jul

UK. Govt introduces public service pensions bill in parliament

The new legislation, introduced by Conservative peer Viscount Younger of Leckie, was first announced in the Queen’s Speech in May. The bill intends to fix the age-based discrimination against younger pension scheme members that stems from reforms introduced to public sector schemes in 2015. These reforms meant that while most members were moved to new career average revalued earnings schemes, individuals aged 44 years or more on April 1 2015 were allowed to stay in their original defined benefit schemes. The Court...

July 22, 2021
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21Jul

UK. DWP failed in communicating women’s state pension age changes

Government officials were too slow to tell many women they would be affected by the rising state pension age, the Parliamentary Ombudsman has ruled. The finding brings the prospect of compensation closer for thousands of women born in the 1950s who have long been furious about the issue. It marks a significant victory for the Waspi (Women Against State Pension Inequality) campaign. However, the ombudsman has no power to refund "lost" pensions. It is also unable to recommend that anyone receive their state...

July 21, 2021
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20Jul

U.K. releases proposals for collective defined contribution plans

The U.K. Department of Work and Pensions is seeking views from trustees and plan sponsors on its draft collective defined contribution plan regulation published Monday. The proposal follows the U.K. Pension Schemes Act 2021, which permitted employers for the first time to launch collective DC plans, also referred to as collective money purchase plans. In a CDC plan, income is secured by pooling plan participants' assets and investments, and participants bear the longevity and investment risk. That is in contrast to...

July 20, 2021
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19Jul

UK. The state pension is slated to rise by 8%, but thousands of retirees will be left out.

State pension payments may increase by 8% next year, but some retirees will be excluded from the increase. Individuals who have achieved state pension age might receive considerable financial assistance through state pension payments. Many people will have contributed a significant amount of money to the National Insurance system over the course of their lives in order to receive the largest state pension feasible. To help, the government uses a triple lock system that increases the state pension total by...

July 19, 2021
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16Jul

The Story of UK Pensions: An engaging guide to the pensions system

By Matthew Rhodes This book explains the wonderful world of UK pensions. It starts with a brief history of how the system has developed over time, covering the different arrangements provided by the private and public sectors, as well as the State. It then investigates the system in more detail, explaining some of the complexitiies and why pensions so often make news headlines. This book is suitable for anyone - whether you know nothing about pensions, or are someone in...

July 16, 2021
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