'Meeting at No. 10 with the coalition...' blog discussion

MSE_Martin

save_every_penny wrote: »

I also hope the new government is interested in financial education. What I will say is that over 12 mths ago, I responded to an FSA posting requesting volunteers to help them with their work place financial education programme. The gent in charge of the programme specified, 'it would be fantastic to get you on board' and went on to informally tell me exactly where I would fit in. This unpaid volunteer work educating the British workplace on generic financial issues has gone nowhere, the reason 'funding'. Yes funding for the FSA to set up the 'volunteer' programme in given areas. What was going to be a months wait has turned into a year and I don't see any commitment to roll this out. I hope the government don't use an association with MSE as a tool to try to kid people that they do want to educate people without throwing their weight behind the education programme.

With regards to MSE.com I think it is very useful and informative, however to justify my statement earlier I must admit that the Pension section needs attention, its importance surely is of huge concern along with mortgages & debt as it is generally where the majority of an individuals 'money' is held at any one time and is subject to ever changing legislation. The projections given for the Aviva (Norwich Union Stakeholder are for an out of date product charge structure), the discount brokers listed do not according to my research include either the lowest cost or the best value in terms of 'what research etc you are given to aid pension decisions'. Pension switching is almost encouraged which based on cost may be ok but additional benefits are often not made clear to consumers by pension providers making a cost based switch alone potential madness (guaranteed annuity rates etc that providers really want rid of as they present long term liabilities). The discount brokers mentioned do not mention the possible drawbacks of 'repositioning' and will happily charge for the service even though a simple warning could potentially halt a wrong decision prior to the customer execution.

In addition a very simple thought to potentially save pension consumers a fortune would be to always write your pension to age 75 even if you fully intend taking it earlier, the reasons for this action being highlighted in a recent HMRC court victory in which the option to leave a pension unvested at age 65 led to tax charges being levied on the estate of the unvested pension owner.

I agree with the principles of MSE.com 110%, I think with the advent of RDR unbiased advice & guidance in many financial areas will become the realm of the wealthy, this is not something I think is fair or just. MSE is a very powerful tool and I hope it will become undisputed in its comments and available as a reliable resource of highly accurate info to the UK, regardless of if the funds are made available to educate people financially.

Hi fair enough on pensions - its a tiny section of the site and not very well read so we don't prioritise it. We're currently actually focusing on the state pension (as we dont do investment anyway, we only have limited scope for articles on private pensions and we don't go into fund pick)

eyeopener2

Pay Day Loans

If the Government is going to be looking at all aspects of the finance industry then I would suggest that the dangerous Pay Day Loan companys be very closely looked at.

We seem to have horror stories day after day on the forum and there seems to be very little regulation or control of these institutions. Once you are in you are trapped.

78mjt

Many congratulations Martin (and Dan) on creating this opportunity through your studious work on this site. There is no doubt that all parties are acutely aware of the number of people that value your opinion and not only use this site but tune into your regular slots on television for help and advice.

Whilst I don't always agree with everything you advise (taking sandwiches into work really upset my friend who owns a small, and good value independent sandwich shop) in the main I think that your site and advice is both brilliant and simple, common sense.

What you did for people in regards to getting refunds for bank charges was truly exceptional, and I don't think it's over-dramatising to say that I think it probably even saved lives.

Well done, and keep banging those drums
MJT

samizdat

I have to agree that pensions are such an important area, both because of the huge financial impact of people's decisions on their lives and also because of the complexity and long-term impact of the decisions themselves. Add to that the endless tinkering by politicians and the perverse incentives this can bring and you have a recipe for disaster.

To my mind, this should be the number one item on everyone's political agenda and frankly its importance totally overshadows issues around bank charges, insurance wording, credit card regulation, savings rate transparency, energy supply or any other issue highlighted by this site that you could mention. Perhaps one could argue that regulatory reform of the global banking industry is more important; but that is not a subject that is well-suited to debate on MSE.

duckbrfc

save_every_penny wrote: »

In reply to Martin

Thanks for the answer, I'm glad you are prepared to confront the winges along with the applause as so many aren't it really does instil a confidence in MSE.com.


I understand your pension comment and your focus, however could this small but important area of the site be updated maybe just to give people the help they need to make retirement potentially less financially painful than it will be for many. In my experience people do shy away from this area due to it seeming over complex and distant but these are no reasons to neglect it. The governments pension overall (not stakeholder) the latest NEST in reality is already under negative pressure before it has even been given a fair trial.


I realise MSE is an outstanding resource that possibly particular financial area's (pension/tax/legislation changes) are less well covered due to cost of research expertise, potential compliance issue's etc, however I would gladly give my time for free to aid improvement of your resource in any way possible (I do hold FSA regulated CF10 compliance function in addition to my other technical authorisations). In other words I deeply care about giving people the resource to make clear informed financial decisions and keep the money they work for and am prepared to back that up with my time.

It's good to see someone not only complaining about an issue with the site - but offering a resolution (particularly a free one). Well done you. :beer: