Not happy.

mark55man

bigadaj wrote: »

We're all ears if you have any suggestions.

I hold most politicians in fairly equal contempt, but the cost of living crisis many are suffering is primarily due to the profligate spending and poor economic management of teh last decade, contributed to by interest rates being too low for long periods so a Bank of England problem as well.

Maybe you need to nip over to the loans board with your credible suggestion as there is largely similarities between personal and state debt, the only answers being to spend lessor earn more. The former is far easier to achieve for most people than the latter.

We could of course borrow even more and pass it further onto future generations.

I don't want further to derail OP's thread. But neither am I minded to let cheap political gags go unremarked, especially when they further the meme that the financial crisis is solely down to labour spending.


I do comment occasionally on more overtly political discussions, and I am not too far in disagreement with you that personal (and governmental) finance and education and discipline are required. I am in disagreement that labour are entirely or even mainly responsible for cheap money (loads a money) mentality.


Apart from mortgage I have no debts other than that I choose to have (eg 0%) and which are covered by savings/investments elsewhere. I will decline your invitation to visit the loan board having left that behind me - neither will I try to solve the world debt problems - which is just a rhetorical gag to deflect the argument I am proposing and you know it


Back to OP - could one of the more informed posters comment (if enough information has been provided) on whether the annuity he is to receive is in line with "normal expectations". It may hurt to find out he could have had more, but it maybe that the IFA did a good job for him but just hasn't shared all the avenues tracked down.

jamesd

Do you have any medical conditions that might affect your life expectancy?

kidmugsy

I'm unclear which Ed Balls you chaps are discussing. Is it this one?
http://order-order.com/2012/10/01/balls-on-wearing-nazi-uniform-it-was-a-laugh/

sun-n-moon

Do you have any medical conditions that might affect your life expectancy?

No. Not yet:)

atush

I am in disagreement that labour are entirely or even mainly responsible for cheap money (loads a money) mentality.

No one said Labour invented Loads a Money culture. What they did was buy into it, spending every penny they took in and then some, not putting a penny away in the good times.

hyubh

atush wrote: »

No one said Labour invented Loads a Money culture. What they did was buy into it, spending every penny they took in and then some, not putting a penny away in the good times.

And yet, the previous government tightened the governance of occupational pension schemes and created the Pension Protection Fund; the current one nationalised the Royal Mail Pension Fund and claimed the act made for some sort of bonanza to the Treasury.

sandsy

sun-n-moon wrote: »

Just checked paperwork from Partnership. Advisor charge is 5%.

That's the first time you've mentioned the words "advisor charge".


An adviser charge is the fee an adviser levies for making a personal recommendation to you, ie. assessing your circumstances and providing suitable advice on which product to buy, and recommending a specific product from a specific company. The adviser who provided this advice was required to provide you with details of his charges before you ever started the advice process and could not have taken his fee out of your pot without you explicitly agreeing to it.


Advisers who provide advice cannot charge any in any other way, ie. they cannot take commission. Their fee has to be explicit.


However, advisory firms who merely follow your instructions or provide information for you to make up your own mind about which company's product to take can still receive commission. The commission terms they are offered by the product provider must, however, still be disclosed to you on the pre-sale documentation.

sun-n-moon

That's the first time you've mentioned the words "advisor charge"

First time I've seen it and have not had it expilicity pointed out to me. I would have questioned it otherwise. That amount would have been the inducement I needed to DIY it.
I've informed the firm of my concerns.

dunstonh

First time I've seen it and have not had it expilicity pointed out to me. I would have questioned it otherwise. That amount would have been the inducement I needed to DIY it.

Although the DIY commission would have been similar in value and likely resulted in lower terms (normally)

For an adviser charge to be taken, you would need to have a fee agreement signed by you and also the provider needs the free agreement page on the application signed (partnership shows the intermediary details and there are tick boxes to indicate adviser charge or commission).

zagfles

dunstonh wrote: »

Although the DIY commission would have been similar in value and likely resulted in lower terms (normally)

For an adviser charge to be taken, you would need to have a fee agreement signed by you and also the provider needs the free agreement page on the application signed (partnership shows the intermediary details and there are tick boxes to indicate adviser charge or commission).

According to this article http://www.moneymarketing.co.uk/news-and-analysis/politics/consumer-panel-sets-out-huge-gulf-in-non-advised-annuity-commissions/2004222.article non-advised commission for a small pot is between 0.75% and 3.35%, and there are discount brokers who'll rebate part of the commission eg http://www.annuitydiscount.co.uk/