Latest Blogs
-
Tilley: Pensions Commission must push reform...and quickly
Recent news of the revival of a Pensions Commission was music to my ears.
-
Lisa Webster: Till pensions do us part
There have been some fluctuations in recent years but overall divorce rates in the UK have been in decline since the 1990s.
-
Tilley: Let’s end the SIPP vs SSAS debate for good
As you might know from my previous columns on SIPPs Professional, I am, and have been for some time, a huge advocate for Small Self-Administered Schemes (SSAS).
-
Lisa Webster: Pre-Budget withdrawals are spiking again
Ever since “tax-free cash” changed its official name to “pension commencement lump sum” back in 2006 there have been pre-Budget rumours that it was going to change – and not for the better.
Popular News
-
SIPP market tops 6m plans but may be peaking - study
The SIPP market has grown strongly in the past year with a record 6m+ SIPPs in force and £650bn invested, according to MoretoSIPPs, the specialist consultancy headed by SIPP industry veteran John Moret.
-
AMPS reappoints Debbie Seaton as chair
The Association of Member-Directed Pension Schemes (AMPS), a trade body for SIPP and SSAS providers, has reappointed Debbie Seaton of Seabridge SSAS as its chair.
-
Nest abandoned by 10m workers
Less than a third of members of the Nest Pension scheme are paying into their retirement pots, according to new data released under an FOI request.
Headline News
Latest News
The Government has promised doctors in England that their tax bills will be covered by the NHS in an attempt to get them to do overtime shifts.
The Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) is investigating the completed acquisition of GBST Holdings Limited by FNZ (Australia) Bidco Pty Ltd.
A recruitment agency and its managing director have pleaded guilty to misleading The Pensions Regulator (TPR) by falsely claiming staff had been put into a workplace pension.
With political parties due to unveil their election manifestos ahead of the 12 December General Election AJ Bell has launched its own election wish list.
The firm has set out a series of proposals designed it says would “radically simplify” the rules savers are required to navigate.
AJ Bell’s ‘manifesto’ includes:
ISAs
· ISAs, which have become popular with investors partly because of their simplicity, are under threat from the same creeping complexity that has suffocated pensions
· We now have at least six different types of ISA, each with different rules and restrictions people need to understand
· The next Government should return the ISA to its simpler roots by creating One ISA incorporating the main features of the existing framework
· This would include a 25% bonus on the first £4,000 of savings where the money is used to pay towards a first home, payable on completion
Pensions
· The next Government, whoever it may be, needs to address mounting complexity which risks putting an entire generation off saving for their future
· In the short-term the annual allowance taper needs to be scrapped to ease strains on the NHS
· This should trigger a longer-term, independent review of pension tax rules aimed at simplifying the system and encouraging more people to save for retirement
· The unfair and poorly understood money purchase annual allowance (MPAA) should also be ditched as part of this review. If necessary, the annual allowance could be lowered to compensate for any lost revenue to the Treasury
· In addition, policymakers should aim to simplify the overall tax structure by moving to a single annual allowance for defined contribution (DC) pensions and a lifetime allowance for defined benefit (DB) pensions
· Pension death benefits should be formally excluded from the Inheritance Tax net to remove the situation where pension providers, not the customer have discretion over who receives pension funds when someone dies
Andy Bell, chief executive of AJ Bell, said: “All too often election manifestos focus on short term political point scoring, while the savings gap in the UK continues to widen.
“This is one of the biggest challenges our society faces and the next Government will have a huge opportunity to make life a lot simpler for people trying to do the right thing and save for their future.
“Pension reforms in 2006 were supposed to usher a new era of simplification for pensions, but since then politicians have repeatedly tinkered with the rules to the point even an actuary would struggle to make sense of some of them.
“No sensible person would create a pension system from scratch with three different annual allowances, a lifetime allowance and no fewer than seven lifetime allowance ‘protections’.
“Now automatic enrolment has been fully introduced, focus needs to turn to engaging more people to save for their own futures.
“Creating a more straightforward tax system which people understand is a necessary condition for building greater levels of trust in pensions.
“ISAs have similarly morphed from simple beginnings to become increasingly difficult for investors to understand.
“Incorporating the best features of the current ISA system in One ISA, including the bonus for first home purchase, while removing the unnecessary complexity we know puts people off would make life easier for millions of people.
“Furthermore, new investors could be better encouraged to save for their future in a system they can more easily understand.”
The firm has set out a series of proposals designed it says would “radically simplify” the rules savers are required to navigate.
AJ Bell’s ‘manifesto’ includes:
ISAs
· ISAs, which have become popular with investors partly because of their simplicity, are under threat from the same creeping complexity that has suffocated pensions
· We now have at least six different types of ISA, each with different rules and restrictions people need to understand
· The next Government should return the ISA to its simpler roots by creating One ISA incorporating the main features of the existing framework
· This would include a 25% bonus on the first £4,000 of savings where the money is used to pay towards a first home, payable on completion
Pensions
· The next Government, whoever it may be, needs to address mounting complexity which risks putting an entire generation off saving for their future
· In the short-term the annual allowance taper needs to be scrapped to ease strains on the NHS
· This should trigger a longer-term, independent review of pension tax rules aimed at simplifying the system and encouraging more people to save for retirement
· The unfair and poorly understood money purchase annual allowance (MPAA) should also be ditched as part of this review. If necessary, the annual allowance could be lowered to compensate for any lost revenue to the Treasury
· In addition, policymakers should aim to simplify the overall tax structure by moving to a single annual allowance for defined contribution (DC) pensions and a lifetime allowance for defined benefit (DB) pensions
· Pension death benefits should be formally excluded from the Inheritance Tax net to remove the situation where pension providers, not the customer have discretion over who receives pension funds when someone dies
Andy Bell, chief executive of AJ Bell, said: “All too often election manifestos focus on short term political point scoring, while the savings gap in the UK continues to widen.
“This is one of the biggest challenges our society faces and the next Government will have a huge opportunity to make life a lot simpler for people trying to do the right thing and save for their future.
“Pension reforms in 2006 were supposed to usher a new era of simplification for pensions, but since then politicians have repeatedly tinkered with the rules to the point even an actuary would struggle to make sense of some of them.
“No sensible person would create a pension system from scratch with three different annual allowances, a lifetime allowance and no fewer than seven lifetime allowance ‘protections’.
“Now automatic enrolment has been fully introduced, focus needs to turn to engaging more people to save for their own futures.
“Creating a more straightforward tax system which people understand is a necessary condition for building greater levels of trust in pensions.
“ISAs have similarly morphed from simple beginnings to become increasingly difficult for investors to understand.
“Incorporating the best features of the current ISA system in One ISA, including the bonus for first home purchase, while removing the unnecessary complexity we know puts people off would make life easier for millions of people.
“Furthermore, new investors could be better encouraged to save for their future in a system they can more easily understand.”
Pension transfer specialist Tideway has claimed that UK workers could collectively be up to £25bn out of pocket if they are persuaded not to take advantage of final salary transfer offers by negative publicity on DB transfers.
The former head of a charity for the disabled has admitted defrauding the charity’s pension scheme out of more than £250,000.