Category: Adequacy
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The first WFFI session
Adequacy, Annuities, Automatic enrolment, Behavioural economics, Benefits, Carers, Consolidation, Contributions, Dashboards, Decumulation, Defined Benefit, Defined Contribution, Disability, Drawdown, Early access, Engagement, Ethnicity, Financial inclusion, Guidance/advice, Housing, Inflation, Investment, Pension freedoms, Pensions gap, Poverty, Retirement, WomenI ran the first Women’s Financial Future Initiative session today, over the lunch hour, with fifteen women at Bravura Solutions. The Initiative exists because the pension system already contains protections for the things that shape a lot of women’s working lives, such as time out for caring, part time hours and relationship change. I don’t…
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The Commission’s interim report does not say it will lower the first Commission’s target replacement rates, but it does build the analytical case for doing so. It introduces a new set of lower “policy element” replacement rates based on what the State Pension and minimum automatic enrolment contributions were actually designed to deliver. It suggests…
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The Turner Commission’s design for auto-enrolment drew on US research showing that inertia could be used to keep people enrolled in pension schemes, and they were right; AE opt-out rates stayed below 10%. The same research showed that defaults can anchor savers at minimum contribution rates. The Commission proposed a minimum of 8% of band…
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The road to Pensions Goth – a Pensions Net-Work after dinner speech
Adequacy, Automatic enrolment, Behavioural economics, Benefits, Carers, Decumulation, Defined Benefit, Defined Contribution, Disability, DWP, Early access, Ethnicity, Financial inclusion, Gender, History, Housing, Income, Inflation, Labour market, Long term care, Mansion House, Pension freedoms, Pensions Commission, Pensions gap, Poverty, Private pensions, Retirement, Self employed, State Pension, State Pension age, Triple lock, WomenI never meant to end up in pensions. In fact, I spent the first 15 years or so of my life dreaming about overthrowing capitalism. My father was a Marxist and fed this passion, telling me I would grow up to be a leader of men, and I actually felt that being a revolutionary wasn’t…
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I was speaking at FT Adviser’s Financial Advice Forum event yesterday and I was asked about what the SPa review may yield. It got me thinking about the stagnation in life expectancy increases. In 2020/22 life expectancy projections were around the same level they were at in 2010–2012 for females, and slightly lower for males,…
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State Pension age is rising. 15 years ago, it was 60 for women and 65 for men, and it is now on a slow path to 68. Both the Pensions Commission and the State Pension age review are considering adequacy. This makes it the right moment to examine how we support people who leave the…
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The IFS pensions review proposals and Hymans recent pensions plan for the new government, among others, suggest maintaining the State Pension triple lock until it meets a target, and then keeping pace with that target. Setting a target will not be straightforward. First of all, do we aim for a living standard target such as…
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By 2041 the proportion of retired home owners could fall from around 78% in 2023 to around 63%. An increase in retired renters is not necessarily a problem, but because of changes to the supply of housing stock, the proportion of privately renting pensioners will also increase from around 6% in 2023 to 17% by…
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Easter may make some think of the Roman Empire because of its role in the Easter narrative. But this is a pensions blog! And it’s Easter – so let’s make a connection there. While Pontius Pilate is primarily known for his part in the crucifixion story, he was also a cog in the administrative machine…
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I’m watching the Work and Pensions Committee evidence session on dashboards that took place yesterday. Excellent evidence from Richard Smith, Kim Gubler, Brian Byrnes, and Maurice Titley. I really enjoyed the impassioned statement from the indefatigable Richard Smith on how dashboards will be game changers for future pensioners. Richard’s key message was that if we…