Falling gilt yields have pushed final salary pension funds £90bn deeper into the red since the second wave of quantitative easing (QE) started last October, pension experts said today. The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) said the Bank of England’s printing of £125bn within the past six months had hit pension funds harder than [...]
Public confidence in pensions has fallen to an all-time low just months before the Government starts automatically putting every worker into one, new research showed today (Weds). A survey for the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) found 54% of all employees are not confident in pensions compared to other ways of saving. 37% said [...]
A new code of conduct is being launched by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) which should ensure that the sale of annuities is fairer and more transparent. The new code is designed to make it easier for people to make decisions about their retirement income, including being more confident in using the so-called ‘open [...]
The Pensions Regulator is highlighting the risks associated with so-called ‘pension liberation’ schemes, which often leave investors substantially out of pocket. Pension holders should resist the temptation to release money from their pension fund before the age of 55 the regulator warns, as Pension Liberation schemes are often scams offered by unauthorised firms. These firms [...]
The Future Foundation think tank suggests that everyday technology such as a TV remote control or an ATM could be used by savers to top up their pension pots. In its ‘Pensions – The Solutions’ report, produced for insurance provider Friends Life, the Future Foundation says that technology could make it much easier for people [...]
Danny Alexander, chief secretary to the Treasury, has told The Telegraph that he wants to cut tax relief on pensions to 20 per cent across the board, eliminating the higher rate of tax relief currently enjoyed by high earners. The reform would help to pay for an increase in the tax allowance to £10,000. Under [...]
Government proposals to increase the auto-enrolment threshold to £10,000 could put 1.8 million women at risk of missing out on a pension, the TUC has warned. Under the auto-enrolment scheme, which will be phased in from October, private sector employers will automatically enrol workers between the age of 22 years and the state pension age, [...]
Consumer goods manufacturer Unilever has been given the backing of its trustee board for proposed changes to its pension scheme. The company’s employees are currently involved in strikes against the proposal to close its final salary pension scheme. In a statement the trustees said: “Whilst the trustee board does not welcome the company’s decision to [...]
People who retire this year will be £3,000 worse off than those who retired four years ago because factors such as the credit crunch, the recession and the eurozone crisis have pushed down annuity rates to a record low. Annuity rates fell by eight per cent in 2011, which was the fourth consecutive year of [...]
An independent pensions consultant claims that the government’s proposed reforms to public sector pensions will result in no cost savings whatsoever. John Ralfe says that the savings which will be made by increasing the public sector pension age to 67 will be cancelled out by the faster build up of pensions in the new schemes. [...]
The private pension sector has suffered a ‘seismic collapse’ according to a survey by the Association of Consulting Actuaries (ACA). The ACA revealed today that nine out of 10 private sector defined benefit schemes, which promise a pre-determined monthly benefit on retirement, have been closed to new entrants and four out of 10 are closed [...]
Nearly a quarter (24 per cent) of private-sector final-salary pension schemes were closed in 2011, according to the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF). In comparison, just 3 per cent of final-salary pension schemes closed in 2008, while the proportion increased to 17 per cent in 2010. It is estimated that the closure of this [...]
Employees who have been with a company for less than two years will no longer be eligible for a refund of the money they have paid into a defined-contribution pension scheme, under proposed reforms. The change, which is designed to stop employees leaving a firm without a pension, has been welcomed by the National Association [...]
Private sector final-salary pension deficits have increased collectively by £63.5 billion, from £158.6 billion at the end of October to £222.1 billion at the end of November. The figures, published by the Pension Protection Fund (PPF), reflect the increasing cost of paying for pensions which outstripped a 0.7 per cent month-on-month increase in the value [...]
Putting off selecting an annuity can reduce the return on pensions savings according to Chatfield Private Client, a firm of Independent Financial Advisors. The firm is calling for people to take annuities into account at an early stage of the process of taking out a pension. Director at the firm Jason Ashman said: “What we [...]
The government has announced changes to its pensions offer for NHS staff, which it claims are an improvement designed to protect low-paid employees, but which unions claim is a tax on middle-earners. Last week up to two million public sector workers went on strike over the government’s plan to increase the amount they will have [...]
UK pension schemes were hit by a fall in both corporate bond yields and stock markets in November, with their funding deficit growing by a third to £80 billion. According to a report by consultancy firm Mercer, the deficit has reached its highest level this year, rising from a deficit of 60 billion pounds at [...]
The High Court has decided that the government’s decision to use the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) to inflation-proof public sector pensions, rather than the traditionally-used Retail Prices Index (RPI), was lawful. The legal challenge to the change, which came into force in April, was launched by Trade unions who claimed that the change was made [...]
Last year’s decision to tie public sector pensions to the consumer prices index (CPI) rather than the retail prices index (RPI) will result in pay-outs being reduced by over 17 per cent over 15 years, according to the TUC. In 2010 the government decided that pensions would rise in line with the CPI, which increases [...]
In today’s Autumn Statement, or pre-Budget report as it used to be called, the Chancellor announced an earlier than expected increase in the pension age to 67. The previous Labour government had planned to increase the state pension age to 67 between 2034 and 2036, followed by a further increase to 68 between 2044 and [...]
Second salvo of QE knocks £90bn off pensions funds
Falling gilt yields have pushed final salary pension funds £90bn deeper into the red since the second wave of quantitative easing (QE) started last October, pension experts said today. The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) said the Bank of England’s printing of £125bn within the past six months had hit pension funds harder than [...]
Bank of Ireland raises cost of mortgages
The Bank of Ireland has become the latest lender to increase the standard variable rate (SVR) on its mortgages. Around 100,000 UK customers will be affected when the bank increases the SVR from 2.99 per cent, to 3.99 per cent in June There will be a further increase in September, when the SVR will rise [...]
House prices down 1.1% in February
House prices fell 1.1 per cent in February according to The Halifax, contradicting earlier figures from Nationwide suggesting that property prices have increased. According to the Halifax’s three monthly index, house prices were 1.1 per cent lower in February than in the previous three months. The mortgage lender’s annual index showed that property prices fell [...]
Debit card transactions declined by Yorkshire and Clydesdale
Customers of Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank have been experiencing problems with debit cards being declined due to computer changes. The problem initially occurred while the banks, which are both part of the National Australia Bank (NAB), were transferring their systems operations to an external contractor on Sunday morning. Problems with some Mastercard debit transactions persisted [...]
Banks write to customers over PPI mis-selling
Banks are writing to millions of customers advising them that they may have been mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI), following the release of new guidelines by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The FSA estimates that between four million and 12 million letters will be sent out, but not everyone who has been mis-sold PPI will [...]
Confidence in pensions plummets ahead of auto-enrolement
Public confidence in pensions has fallen to an all-time low just months before the Government starts automatically putting every worker into one, new research showed today (Weds). A survey for the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) found 54% of all employees are not confident in pensions compared to other ways of saving. 37% said [...]
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) expects the UK economy to grow more slowly than previously forecast and says it faces “serious challenges”. In its quarterly economic forecast the BCC forecast growth of 0.6 per cent in 2012, a slight decrease from its previous forecast of 0.8 per cent. It expects the government’s efforts to [...]
Pension annuities should be clearer under new code
A new code of conduct is being launched by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) which should ensure that the sale of annuities is fairer and more transparent. The new code is designed to make it easier for people to make decisions about their retirement income, including being more confident in using the so-called ‘open [...]
Saga sees financial green shoots for over-50s
Saga’s latest quarterly report is slightly more optimistic about the financial health of the over 50s than its report for the final quarter of 2011, but the organisation warns that the “green shoots” of recovery are very tentative at the moment. Compared with a year ago, the report suggests that the quality of life for [...]
Drivers switch to autopilot after 11 minutes
A study by car insurance provider, Esure, has found that drivers suffer from a lapse in concentration just 11 minutes into a long journey. Esure questioned more than 1,000 motorists in the UK about their driving habits and attention span. 22 per cent of those surveyed said they fell into ‘autopilot’ easily, while 34% said [...]
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