Shall I cancel my pension???

dunstonh

Err, no.The rules changed in April.Compulsory annuities no longer required.

Mind you, there are now rumblings that they will be changed back again because rich people and their accountants/IFAs are 'abusing' the system to avoid inheritance tax.

No-one is abusing the system at all. The Govt changed the rules and people are acting within those rules. If they now decide they dont like the rule changes, that is their fault and not advisers or accountants.

going2die_rich

You are self employed now but if you were ever unemployed for any reason in the future some benefits that you may be able to claim may look at your savings. Therefore even though you say your savings in one account are your pension I don't believe they would care (believe you) so you may recieve reduced benefits since you can subsidise them with your savings.

EdInvestor

dunstonh wrote:

No-one is abusing the system at all. The Govt changed the rules and people are acting within those rules. If they now decide they dont like the rule changes, that is their fault and not advisers or accountants.

Do you have a view about why they don't seem to like the new rules DH?

Some IFAs seem to think it's because the end to annuity compulsion is making pension saving more attractive, leading to more people saving in pensions, which costs the Govt money as they have to shell out tax relief upfront.

dunstonh

I have political view. Labour stand for the nanny state and dont believe people can look after themselves.

It is fair to say that lower pension contributions help Gordon Brown in the short term and you do get the feeling this Govt is all about short term. Just look at rebates issue on contracting out where they have reduced the rebates, encouraging people to contract back in which means they dont have to pay the money to the pension companies now. However, the bill will come in the future when even more people are in retirement.

I would go with the nanny state approach personally along with a lack of understanding of what people actually want.