All Pensions articles – Page 26
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ArticleTreasury launches pension age consultation
The Treasury has published a consultation, Increasing the Normal Minimum Pension Age (NMPA), which confirms plans to raise the NMPA from 55 to 57 years by 2028 to reflect changes to the minimum state pension age.The document, published yesterday (11 February), stated: “The government believes that increasing the minimum pension ...
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Supplier articleAs pension withdrawal rates increase, members need to be aware of the pitfalls of early pension access
Latest figures from HMRC have revealed that 360,000 people withdrew from their defined contribution pensions throughout October, November and December 2020 which is a 10% increase on the same period last year.Jonathan Watts-Lay, Director, WEALTH at work, comments; “These latest figures from HMRC highlight that many more pension scheme members ...
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ArticleLandmark Pension Schemes Bill receives Royal Assent
The Pension Schemes Bill has been granted Royal Assent today, ushering in major changes to pension schemes aimed at providing greater protection for members.The move sees the Bill become the Pensions Schemes Act, almost three years after it was first mooted in response to the BHS and Carillion pension scheme ...
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ArticleEmployees unaware of basic pension facts
Research by consumer watchdog Which? has found most employees are still in the dark about the most basic of pension facts – even though greater numbers do know how they can cash their pension pots in.The poll, conducted among 2,000 workers, revealed that only 38% could correctly identify 55 as ...
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Supplier articlePension scams rife almost one year on from when Covid-19 first struck
How to protect pension scheme membersThese uncertain times are often seen as a window of opportunity for scammers looking to prey on vulnerable individuals, with a recent report by Action Fraud finding that pension scams had become one of the most common types of fraud to occur last year. In ...
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ArticlePension withdrawals continue to rise
Figures released by HMRC have revealed an alarming level of defined contribution pension withdrawals – with money accessed for Q4 up 10% on the same quarter a year earlier.The data shows 360,000 people withdrew from their defined contribution pension during October, November and December last year - up from the ...
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OpinionRob Yuille: A look at the pensions dashboards progress
Tuesday the 19th of January saw the Pension Schemes Bill overcome the last legislative hurdle before being signed into law by the Queen. While it covers many areas, some of the most hotly contested were the clauses regarding pensions dashboards.The Association of British Insurers (ABI) and others have already been ...
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OpinionNigel Peaple: Pensions dashboards will give people more control over their savings
After a long wait the Pension Schemes Bill will soon officially enter into law, having passed through the Parliament stage on 19 January.Among strengthening the powers of the Pensions Regulator, enabling a stronger funding regime for defined benefit (DB) pension schemes and allowing the creation of collective defined contribution (CDC) ...
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AnalysisHow is the pensions dashboards project progressing?
Need to know:The dashboard project will start voluntary testing next year.Data accuracy and security are key challenges.Third parties such as banks and investment platforms will launch their own version.The pensions dashboard initiative is working to establish a central location for people to view all of their pension pots on one ...
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ArticleAberdeen Council completes £230m pension buy-in
Aberdeen Council has completed a £230m buy-in transaction, insuring the pension payments of 1,360 retired FirstGroup employees.According to pensions insurance specialist Rothersay, which completed the transaction, the deal is thought to be only the second local government pension scheme to secure its pension obligations through an insurance policy.Commenting on the ...
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ArticleClimate risk reporting to become mandatory for pension trustees
Workplace pension schemes will be required report on the climate risk of their funds, after the government yesterday published its response to its August 2020 consultation: 'Taking action on climate risk: improving governance and reporting by Occupational Pension Schemes'.The document will instruct trustees of pension plans with more than £5 ...
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ArticleAutomatic enrolment trigger freeze to create just 8,000 new savers
The Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) annual review of the automatic enrolment trigger and qualifying earnings for 2021-22, has concluded the existing automatic enrolment (AE) threshold should stay the same for 2021/22 – meaning there will not be many new savers who start contributing to a workplace pension this ...
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ArticleFurlough forces millions to delay retirement plans
Millions of workers face delayed retirement due to being put on furlough and its impact on pay, according to a study by investment firm Fidelity International.The research found that nearly four-in-10 workers surveyed (38%), have said they will have to put back their retirement date by around two-and-a-half years.According to ...
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ArticleMarie Curie completes £30 million bulk annuity transaction
Marie Curie has completed a £30 million bulk annuity pensions transaction with Legal and General Assurance Society.The transaction agreed in January 2021 secures the benefits of more than 300 retries and deferred pensioners.Aon advised the trustees on the transaction, while Capita supported them as administrators of the scheme. Legal advice ...
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ArticleEmployee pension contributions fell by 11% in 2020
Employee and employer contributions to defined contribution (DC) pension schemes dropped by 11% and 5% between quarter one and quarter two of 2020 respectively, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).Its analysis, which looked at UK-based funded occupational pension schemes from October 2019 to June 2020, found that total ...
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OpinionTim Middleton: Employees need to make informed decisions about their retirement
Retirement plans for 2021 have changed for many due to the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic. While some have decided to put their retirement on hold due to their savings taking a hit because of Covid-19, others are deciding to retire early after being discouraged about finding employment again when faced with ...
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AnalysisHow has the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic impacted at-retirement support?
Need to know:Baby boomers have been disproportionately hit by the pandemic and are keen to access retirement support.Holistic financial planning guidance, covering debt as well as savings and pensions, and offering practical help, can make a real difference to outcomes.At-retirement support is most effective when it is part of a ...
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Case StudiesNationwide overhauls at-retirement support during Covid-19 pandemic
Nationwide Building Society offers a group personal pension, provided by Aviva, with around 14,000 members, and a defined benefit (DB) scheme with around 5,000 active members that will close to future accrual on 31 March 2021.Amanda Innes, pensions communications manager, employee pensions, at Nationwide, says: “We’ve worked closely with our ...
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OpinionJeremy Harris: What will 2021 bring for pensions?
This year has seen monumental changes to employment law and employer/employee relations. For instance, we saw the introduction of the furlough scheme, completely new to employment law, which meant the government handed out billions of pounds to organisations in grants. With government support for the UK economy due to continue ...
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ArticleEXCLUSIVE: 33% of organisations offer cash to staff who reach lifetime or annual limits
EXCLUSIVE: A third (33%) of organisations offer cash as an alternative to pension contributions for those employees that reach their lifetime or annual allowance limits, according to research by Employee Benefits.The Employee Benefits Pensions research 2020, which surveyed 94 pension strategy decision-makers found that this year, 49% of respondents that ...