UK pensions: Funding of defined benefit (DB) schemes is getting a bit better, with FTSE 100 companies covering more and more of their liabilities March 1, 2016 Funding for defined benefit (DB) pension schemes is improving, with blue chip companies now covering most of their liabilities, figures released today show. According to the research by JLT Employee Benefits, the total deficit across all UK private sector DB pension schemes stood at £209bn at 29 February 2016, which represents a funding level of 85 [...]
Department for Work and Pensions appoints John Cridland to review state pension age and assess what effects longevity might have on government’s ability to provide for future generations March 1, 2016 The Department for Work and Pensions has today announced that John Cridland, former director general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), will be leading a review into state pension age. The review, which is the first for the UK, will evaluate what effects aspects like changing life expectancy will have on the Department's ability to provide [...]
From pensions taxes to the EU referendum to the Elizabeth Line: Here’s what got you reading this week February 27, 2016 1. A pensions tax bombshell Former pensions minister Steve Webb wrote on Sunday that George Osborne is preparing to drop a "tax bombshell" on pensions savers by scrapping the tax-free lump sum. Find out what the chancellor may have planned here. 2. The EU referendum There was no escaping from it: wherever you looked, another politician [...]
UK pensions: Waspi campaign might find itself on the backburner, as Work and Pensions Committee to discuss whether unfairness between different generations is a greater issue February 26, 2016 The Work and Pensions Committee will be hearing evidence on fairness within the pensions regime next week from none other than two former ministers. The Committee announced today that former minister of state for universities and science Lord Willetts and former pensions minister Steve Webb would be giving evidence as part of an ongoing inquiry into intergenerational fairness [...]
Budget 2016 UK pension changes explained: What pension reforms might chancellor George Osborne have up his sleeve on 16 March? Will Waspi have any state pension joy? February 25, 2016 It's the question on everybody's lips (well, everybody at City A.M. anyway): what will pensions in the UK look like post-Budget 2016? Several suggestions have been bandied around, but which ones might you want to start banking on and which can you probably afford to ignore? Relief rates slashed for higher earners Bad news if you pay [...]
George Osborne’s relentless attack on hardworking savers is making pensions freedoms meaningless February 25, 2016 At first, George Osborne seemed pension savers’ best friend. ‘Pension freedoms’ – the ability to take money from pensions however you like – were probably the only pension good news most can remember. Then came the sneaky U-turn. Osborne hasn’t taken away pension freedoms, but appears intent on making them meaningless. If he has it his way, there [...]
Small business representatives tell the Work and Pensions Committee of their auto-enrolment worries, including clash between adopting system and National Living Wage February 24, 2016 Smaller employers need to act now to understand what is required of them under the pensions auto-enrolment rules, small business representatives have cautioned. Speaking in front of the Work and Pensions Committee this morning, Mike Cherry, policy director at Federation of Small Businesses, pointed out that research by his organisation indicated that that many small businesses [...]
Pensions tax relief cuts: Why the government is vastly over-estimating what it could save from moving to flat rate relief February 23, 2016 In his Budget speech on 16 March, the chancellor is widely expected to announce – potentially quite radical – changes to the taxation of pensions. This will not just be important for pensions professionals. Fundamental changes to the way tax relief is granted could have significant consequences both for members of pension schemes and for those who [...]
Budget 2016: Former pensions minister Steve Webb and Royal London warn chancellor George Osborne that pensions changes would amount to “daylight robbery” February 23, 2016 Britain's largest mutual insurer has warned chancellor George Osborne could commit “daylight robbery” in next month’s Budget with major new changes to pensions. In a new report today, Royal London said a pensions ISA or a flat rate of pensions tax relief would hurt existing savers and discourage future saving. A pensions ISA, which was first [...]
Budget 2016: As chancellor George Osborne gears up for expected pensions raid, his Budget will serve up a reality check on the deficit February 22, 2016 As Westminster whips itself into a referendum frenzy following a week of thrilling political drama, it is worth remembering that more prosaic and domestic concerns lie ahead. In three weeks’ time, for example, chancellor George Osborne will steal the limelight away from Boris Johnson, David Cameron et al. when he delivers his 2016 Budget. Incredibly, [...]