MSE News: Minister admits millions 'don't have a clue' about pensions

JamesU

Loughton_Monkey wrote: »

One thing that annoys me greatly is the 'false sentiment' that tends to go along with pensions. What I mean by this is that those who chose not to save for retirement are, by definition, getting old. But their 'sins' of not saving were committed when they were having a whale of a time in their 20's, same again in their 30's, and when they really earned well in their 40's but spent it all on Marbella holidays and if we are lucky, probably put £2,000 into an ISA when they were in their 50's.

This is a stupid and blinkered generalisation. Your posts usually have more substance than this condescending nonsense.

JamesU

bendix

JamesU wrote: »

This is a stupid and blinkered generalisation. Your posts usually have more substance than this condescending nonsense.

JamesU

And yet the general thrust of it is true. IF a person doesnt have adequate pension provision it is because they did not put enough away when they should have done.

I, for one, have no sympathy for grown up adults who refused to do what is right for themselves, instead acting like children and abnegating all sense of personal responsibility, then whining when it's too late that it's all someone else's fault.

It is a truism that can't be denied.

alexlyne

Quote:
We are looking at ways to make pensions more accessible such as looking at having an iPhone app.

I can;t get past this either.
2 things.

1. Why they have to use an Apple product to get their message across to the 30 million (don't bother correcting that I know it's wrong) working people. It's like saying 'tweet us' or 'friend us on facespace' or whatever. Surely the competition commision would have something to say about it? The government should spend billions making it cross platform and do the job properly.

2. Regardless of what phone platform it's launched on, do they really believe that the youth of today are going to a. find this app, or b. download it? ha ha! what a waste of money.

I am saving £35 a month into my pension instead of buying an iphone.I guess I'm already one up.

Rafter

It seems to me that you are all right.

Everyone should have the right not to save during their lifetime for a comfortable retirement. But they should not have the right to accept state handouts if they could have afforded to make a reasonable provision during their working life.

So the bargain is that those who are able to are forced to save enough through pension contributions to fund that 'minimum' level and that should be what the second state pension is all about.

Those who can't afford it due to disability or being unemployed for 45 years would get the second pension funded through benefits.

As long as that second state pension is sufficient to provide food and accommodation in retirement I can't see why the state needs to get involved any further.

If people want to retire 'comfortably' they they should be making their own provision, educated about how to do it and supported by a well regulated pension industry with preferably plenty of 'mutual' content to avoid the creaming off of investment returns by managers and shareholders.

R.

JamesU

bendix wrote: »

And yet the general thrust of it is true. IF a person doesnt have adequate pension provision it is because they did not put enough away when they should have done.

I, for one, have no sympathy for grown up adults who refused to do what is right for themselves, instead acting like children and abnegating all sense of personal responsibility, then whining when it's too late that it's all someone else's fault.

It is a truism that can't be denied.

If a person does not have adequate pension provision, it is fallacious to assume it is only because they did not put enough away when they should have done. There could be numerous reasons for this including affordability, understanding of financial products, general financial acumen, inappropriate investments, political meddling and their effects, ill health, divorce etc. The list is endless really, so I am not convinced the general thrust put forward is true.

But if a person does have sufficient understanding and opportunity to make adequate pension provision, for sure that is a personal responsibility. I agree with that being a truism.

JamesU

dunstonh

As much as most of us dislike the old home service salesforces, they did get one thing right. Savings/investment products have to be sold to the majority of people. They are not bought. I come across new clients all the time who last topped up the pension via a home service tied agent in the 1990s. With virtually all the home service salesforces gone and the FSA making it unprofitable to set up regular contriubtion pensions, its no wonder that no-one has filled that gap.

down

In reference to the answer given, I wish to point out that as the State Pension is wrongly being classed as earnings it means that any income from other sources such as Company Pensions etc., a larger portion of the Company Pension becomes taxable as the Threshold level is being reached quicker by taking the figure for State Pension as taxable earnings. Therefore the if the State Pension was removed from taxable earnings the threshold figure would then begin to be calculated from the earnings from Company Pension and other sources of Income. I would refer the Pension Minister Steve Webb to the statement he made re: One area of the system that confuses people is the need for paying national insurance (NI) which determines state pension entitlement. As stated we pay NI which in turn determines our state pension, does that not mean that we have bought our pension and therefore not earnings?