Opinion – Page 9
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OpinionTim Gosling: Higher contribution rates will bring savers closer to retirement targets
With the 2017 review of automatic-enrolment approaching, the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) spent 2016 researching adequacy in pension saving. Together with Hymans Robertson, we used data on pension wealth and other savings to build a picture of what retirement incomes could be for the population of Britain, assuming ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: How popular was the Spring Budget?
I think the benefits industry breathed a collective sigh of relief earlier this week when it became clear that the Spring Budget didn’t include any major announcements impacting reward.But that’s not to say that all of the announcements were popular. Buried in the supporting policy documentation was confirmation that the ...
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OpinionNaomi Brown: How will the new Pension Schemes Bill affect employers?
Since the introduction of automatic-enrolment, many new master trusts have entered the pensions market, offering a solution for employers that want the benefits of a trust-based scheme without the cost and time of setting up and running their own arrangement. While there are clear advantages to providing defined contribution (DC) ...
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OpinionAmanda Latham: High standards of governance bring value for pension scheme members
The pensions landscape has changed dramatically in recent years and is still evolving. Automatic enrolment is bringing millions of new savers into pensions each year. By 2020, the figure is expected to be 10 million, with the vast majority of newly enrolled savers being enrolled into large defined contribution (DC) ...
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OpinionJackie Spencer: The workplace is a good place to start engaging people with their finances
Many people are not saving enough for retirement and with over 40 million people in work across the UK, the workplace is a good place to start engaging people with their finances.A wide range of organisations are already involved in helping people to manage their money better: government bodies, commercial ...
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OpinionRob Yuille: The Pensions Dashboard gives digital makeover to retirement savings
The long-term savings industry has been arguably slow to embrace the digital revolution. As a long-term product with low levels of engagement, while progress has been made, the savings industry has not fully embraced the possibilities of digital technology.The Pensions Dashboard, the widely discussed current technological development in pensions, is ...
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OpinionSean Nesbitt: Uber by numbers – what next for worker status?
The Uber judgment is only the end of the beginning for the gig economy and the debate on worker status. You would need an algorithm to track the implications. Here are some:3-4: Months for an appeal to get to the Employment Appeals Tribunal. A speedy hearing is possible, but up ...
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OpinionGeorgina Beechinor: Key pensions considerations for employers in the wake of the Brexit vote
Pension schemes have been grappling with volatile markets in the run-up to and in the wake of the vote for Brexit. As the dust settles, we examine some of the wider issues for employers.Employers with schemes based on members’ final salary, also known as defined benefit (DB) schemes, need to ...
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OpinionTim Middleton: Pensions education must start early on in employees' working lives
Automatic enrolment owes its success to the harnessing of inertia. Employees are, by default, enrolled into their employer’s pension scheme and contributions are automatically deducted and invested on their behalf.However, in spite of its success in bringing so many employees into workplace pension saving, automatic enrolment is not on its ...
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OpinionJill Clucas: How Brexit could affect pension schemes
Funding levels in defined benefit (DB) occupational pension schemes have caused immediate concern, with falling gilt yields increasing deficits significantly. Employers with open DB schemes may consider the Brexit vote the trigger to replace DB accrual with a defined contribution (DC) arrangement for the future.Also important is the financial strength, ...
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OpinionIan McKenna: Robo-advice is designed to help plug the financial advice gap
The size of the ‘advice gap’, the number of people who do not get financial advice, creates a significant risk that employees will seek to remain employed beyond the point where they are productive, because of inadequate retirement income.Recent moves, such as the so-called retail distribution review (RDR), have raised ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: Where does Brexit fallout leave UK pensions?
Ever since the EU referendum result and David Cameron’s subsequent resignation as prime minister, barely a day seems to have gone by without news of political departures and appointments.Last week, it was the turn of Ros Altmann to leave her post of pensions minister. In itself, there is nothing unusual ...
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OpinionMichelle Cracknell: A new approach is required to help people plan for retirement
The pension landscape has undertaken a massive rebuild in order to be sustainable in our ageing society. The topping-out ceremony was the pension freedoms introduced from April 2015. Now, we need to make the new pensions infrastructure habitable for members so they can properly plan for retirement, making informed choices ...
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OpinionIan McKenna: Smart technology can drive engagement with retirement savings
Achieving effective engagement with employees about their retirementbenefits is crucial for an employer to get the best return on such spend. If people do not understand something, it is virtually impossible for them to appreciate its value.Smartphones and tablets can now make this far easier, but this needs more than ...
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OpinionGeorgina Beechinor: Home is where the start is in pensions auto-enrolment case
One qualifying criteria for pensions auto-enrolment is that, under their contract, an individual is a “worker”, “who is working or ordinarily works in Great Britain”. The UK Pensions Regulator (TPR) has power to issue compliance notices to employers that fail to comply with this requirement.In the case of The Queen ...
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OpinionTim Middleton: Striking the right balance with pension communications
The new tax year sees yet another adjustment to the rules governing tax relief for registered pension schemes. As the current regime celebrates its tenth anniversary, one of its principal objectives, a simplification of the tax rules, now seems a cruel and ironic joke. There will now be no fewer ...
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OpinionClive Lewis: Pension changes present an opportunity for employers to engage staff
Many employees are unconcerned about the value of their pension scheme, if they have a scheme at all, until they are close to retirement. Indeed, many employees are hard pressed to specify the benefits their workplace pension scheme offers.Two things are changing this situation. First, changes to the rules regarding ...
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OpinionSusie Logan: Are you focusing on the right things?
2015 was a year of great change. There is no doubt about it, the new pension freedoms have given people unprecedented flexibility when it comes to deciding what to do with their retirement savings.As we look forward to 2016, we need to make sure we offer our employees the right ...
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OpinionJackie Wells: Engage all generations of a workforce in making informed pensions decisions
The world of pensions has seen enormous change over recent years. Thanks to auto-enrolment, millions more are now saving for their retirement in a workplace pension scheme. And following the radical pension reforms announced by Chancellor George Osborne in the Budget 2014, savers now have more choice than ever before ...
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OpinionLouise's lowdown: Employees' financial concerns move onto the radar
October saw the debut of Workie, the star of the government's campaign to raise awareness of auto-enrolment and increase engagement with workplace pensions. Workie, "a striking physical embodiment of the workplace pension", is appearing on billboards, television screens and, most likely, a Twitter feed near you. Reactions have been mixed, ...