A demand for the Government to ditch the valuable pledge in 2020 was launched by MPs on the Work and Pensions Committee over the weekend. Ex-Pensions Minister Ros Altmann has also renewed her call for it to be scrapped in favour of a 'double lock'. And industry experts have chimed in to point out the present system is costly and unsustainable. So how does the triple lock work, and what might replace it?
Before you make any decisions, it's generally a good idea to get a complete picture of your financial situation. We run through how to get started.
Labour MP Frank Field led calls for an end to the 'triple lock' guarantee, saying it was 'unfair and unsustainable' when children were twice as likely as pensioners to be living in poverty.
This Wednesday, former pensions minister Steve Webb will be on hand to answer readers' pension questions in a live web chat - or as we like to call it here at This is Money, a Webbchat. From 11am until 1pm on November 9th, Steve and experts from The Pension Advisory Service will be joining us at This is Money HQ. So if you have a question, set a reminder in your phone or put a note in your diary to join us - or email us a question now.
The petition, launched by Darren Cooke, says: 'Banning cold calling would dramatically reduce the number of people falling prey to fraudsters and losing their savings and pensions.'
Burdened with servicing debts of more than £20,000 each, nearly a quarter of people under 40 say they do not save into a pension because they can't afford to, Prudential claims.
Five million people are stuck with annuities after the Government abandoned plans to let savers sell them on a second-hand market.
Mistakes in official records mean around 30,000 people are being underpaid the state pension, the Department for Work and Pensions has admitted.
A cash bonus worth up to £1,000 a year will be added to every £4,000 saved into a Lifetime Isa, and 57 per cent of under-40s felt this was the main attraction of the Lifetime Isa.
Prudential study finds that one in ten of those surveyed have yet to start a fund and that's not until they are 46.
Former Pensions Minister Steve Webb is This Is Money's Agony Uncle. He is ready to answer your questions, whether you are still saving, in the process of stopping work, or juggling your finances in retirement. This week, he replies to a reader who was surprised when HMRC changed his tax code after he began drawing a state pension.
Money Mail has uncovered an obscure legal loophole that enables over-55s to cash in annuities for pots worth less than £10,000. The legislation, allegedly buried by government officials, offers a lifeline to pensioners who are locked into deals that turned their savings into a retirement income. The discovery should have been cause for celebration after ministers last week axed plans to allow five million savers to swap any annuity for a lump sum. But insurers are threatening to block customers who attempt to use the law to get at their cash.
After spending a year-and-a-half promising five million retired savers that the pension freedoms would be extended to them, the whole plan was canned in a short statement.
Scaling back final salary pension payouts to savers could be an option to help firms at risk of going bust, an influential industry body has suggested.
Toni Leigh Hall, who was made up to look age 65 for a pensions campaign, pictured, started to save two years ago and is on track to have a reasonable income when she retires.
The Government drive to auto-enrol all workers into pensions has led to the rise of an estimated 100 master trusts, which manage centralised funds for several employers at once.
The assets of people who die without a will and with no known immediate family are advertised publicly at a rate of around 40 estates a week. The sum total of property, savings and possessions of a deceased person is known as their estate. Those that go unclaimed are listed by the official 'bona vacantia' division of the Government Legal Department. ...read
Politicians are being lobbied heavily by insurers to hack back a perk known as tax relief for middle- class workers who are in their 30s and older. At present, savers do not pay income tax on money they put into a pension. It means that £1 paid into a pension costs a basic-rate taxpayer 80p and a higher rate taxpayer 60p.
The proposals would have allowed as many as five million retirees with to sell their pension incomes in return for a lump sum. The move would have been a lifeline for savers trapped for life in poor-value deals.
The Government came 'very close' to dropping the current pension tax relief system in favour of the 'absolute disaster' of everyone saving for retirement into Isas, reveals Lady Altmann.
A report by the Care Quality Commission last week found services for the elderly were nearing breaking point and warned of a wave of home closures if staff and funding gaps are not filled.
This is how mis-selling scandals tend to play out. It starts with a few brave souls complaining that they got a raw deal. They're called loonies and their pleas for recompense fall on deaf ears.
My eldest brother wants to see our parents' wills and mine to see what is left to him so he can plan for his future and make sure his children are ok. Both our parents are poorly and I'm their main carer. I still live at home and dropped my hours so I can do more for them. I do not have a pension so mum and dad have made sure that the house comes to me.My other brother is all for it but the other thinks he should get his share and if he didn't like what's in the will he wants to change it.
Thousands of retirees in poor health could have been deprived of hundreds of pounds every year that they have spent decades grafting to be able to put aside for their old age.
Until last year, most people bought so-called annuities when they retired. These complicated insurance deals turn a pension pot into a guaranteed income for life.
Over the past few days, we have learnt that a document has been circulating among Government Ministers arguing for a radical overhaul of pension tax breaks.
The state pension age is due to rise to 67 for both men and women by 2028. But ex-CBI boss John Cridland has been tasked with recommending further increases beyond that point.
Both the pension rescue scheme and the regulator want greater powers to prevent funds being dumped when firms are sold. The risks were laid bare following the collapse of retail chain BHS, and separate concerns have been raised by the recent sale of troubled turkey firm Bernard Matthews, a move which left its near £20million pension scheme deficit to be shouldered by the Pension Protection Fund.
The increase in popularity in property as an investment across the UK reflects rising confidence in house prices, the Office for National Statistics said.
People in England aged 55 and over currently own £1.5trillion worth of property, £0.1trillion more than Italy's annual GDP, according to research.
A typical pension scheme that in 2010 would have taken 10 years to be back in the black is forecast to take more than double the time - 23 years, according to reports.
Over half a million workers who retire before pension age could get a boost to their state pension in exchange for a relatively small sum of money, according to analysis.
The benefit to public finances from Osborne's reforms will peak at £2.3billion in 2018-19, before turning negative from 2021-22 and generating an annual bill of £5billion by 2034-35.
The investigation is set to scrutinise 'pre-pack' administration deals, which can allow a company to keep trading while leaving creditors, including its pension fund, out of pocket.
Fund managers will be required to breakdown the transaction costs incurred by the workplace pension funds that invest with them, under new proposals.
Former Pensions Minister Steve Webb says that up to 50,000 women could be at risk of losing out. Those affected are women who took time out of work to care for children in the 1980s and 1990s.
The number of inheritance disputes reaching the High Court each year has soared to a record high due to the intricacies of modern family life and rising property prices, according to a law firm. Some 116 cases were brought in the High Court under the Inheritance Act last year compared with 15 in 2005 - an eight-fold increase in the annual figure. But this still relatively small number represents the tip of the iceberg of disputes which are either settled or end up in County Court, according to Dan Winter, partner at Nockolds.
I am currently my mother's only beneficiary but she is considering making my daughter one too. My daughter has married recently - would her husband have a right to half of what she inherited?
My husband and I made joint wills. We are divorced and he remarried three years ago. He has recently passed away and didn't make a will with his new wife. Is his old will with me valid?
Jane Walker, from Heswall in Merseyside, made repeated requests for help and information from Premier Foods' pension scheme from April 2015 onwards, but got nowhere until This is Money intervened. A former human resources officer, Mrs Walker worked at Premier for 11 years until 2004, and she wants to make the most of her savings now due to her serious illness which has left her unable to work.
An insight into savers' concerns that they will not have enough money for their pension years, has been revealed in a survey of retirement confidence across the country.
However many middle-aged and older workers do not even realise they are paying fees that sap their savings, prolonging the amount of time they are in work.
What should I do about my older pensions, and what are the most important things to find out about the new one?
A new joint investment and insurance deal has been launched offering wealthy savers immediate protection against death duties.
Savers with Prudential are only allowed to use new freedoms to dip into their pension pot regularly if they pay to see a financial adviser - and some are blocking clearing debt.
Work and Pensions Secretary Damian Green said there was a need to look at the issue of 'inter-generational fairness' over the long term in Britain. But he said no changes would come in before 2020.
Savers have been stampeding to cash in their gold-plated pensions under new rules which allow customers to take their retirement pot as a lump sum.
Most new retirees are striking a careful balance between rewarding themselves for years of hard work while also making sure pension savings won't run out, finds a Prudential survey.
Some 11million savers are still in line for a guaranteed income for life in retirement, but those in underfunded schemes will be wondering if they can still rely on this promise. Yet any move towards allowing employers to duck responsibilities to staff is very politically sensitive - it would anger great swathes of older savers, a group who tend to vote. We explain the crisis facing final salary schemes and explore some solutions being put forward.
Paul Walton, who lives in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, had squirrelled away a £1,300 pension pot with St James's Place. Fifteen years later he checked the balance - expecting the fund's investment growth would have turned his pot into a tidy fund - only to be told the pot was worth nothing. Eye-watering charges levied by the company meant he actually owed them £37.32.
It is understood the Government is still mulling whether to introduce legislation or regulation to force all providers to participate, and ensure it is a blanket service.
Steve Webb said the average contribution rate - which measures the amount employers and workers put into a pension versus salaries - is 'a genuinely shocking figure'.
Many people new to investing are looking to plough their lifetime savings into drawdown schemes, which let you take sums out of your pot while the rest remains in stocks and other risky assets, to fund their old age. Tests to ensure products come up to acceptable standards will include charges that are fair and reasonable and provide value for money, easy transfers out of products, security measures, and clear explanations of options and risks. ...read ...read ...read
Pensioners were living on £155 per week in 1995 but this had risen to £297 by 2015 - adjusted for inflation so that was not the driving factor behind the growth. An Aegon reckons the present era of plenty for retirees is underpinned by three factors - generous and guaranteed final salary pensions, inflation-beating state pension increases under the 'triple lock' since 2010, and rising numbers of older people continuing to work part-time during retirement.
Top City watchdog Andrew Bailey has thrown cold water on the idea that investing more in property will help savers to fund their retirement.
Altmann said: 'The rise of anti-establishment nationalist movements, epitomised by the Brexit result, may reflect anger at the financial difficulties facing some parts of the population.'
Nearly half of UK employees are suffering a crisis of confidence over saving for retirement, research for The Mail on Sunday reveals. Analysis by actuaries Willis Towers Watson and Nottingham University, indicates that wannabe pension savers are starting out with good intentions but many are being put off by a bewildering array of options. Increased choice, combined with economic uncertainty and conflicting financial priorities, is producing a widespread 'pension road block' says Willis - where people are putting off setting up a pension.
Banks and investment firms were last week given the green light by the Treasury to launch the tax-free accounts for the under-40s in April.
The Government will effectively contribute 20% of your fund, but slap an exit fee of 25% on the entire amount including all investment growth unless you stick to the rules or fall terminally ill.
From 6 April 2017, Government changes will allow people to sell their annuity income if they want to, without tax restrictions that currently apply, as long as their annuity provider agrees.
Figures tracking student buy-to-let properties across the UK show that in fact returns of 6 per cent or more are common. Sunderland is top of the pile, with landlords making 10.6 per cent on average.
People aged 18-24 were most likely to feel foreboding about their future finances after the referendum result, with 27 percent pessimistic beforehand and 43 per cent afterwards.
Nearly a third of borrowers with an 'equity release loan' take an average of £6,875 out of their homes for holidays, according to broker Key Retirement.
Prudential ranked counties and cities on the basis of factors such as the weather, crime levels, access to healthcare, number of retirees already living there and pension income. Surrey's pensioners receive the highest average annual income at £21,200, while those in Dyfed and Powys suffer the least amount of crime, the insurance giant found.
Ever since Yvonne bought a £20 blender advertised in a magazine, she's been bombarded with junk mail after her name was put on the so-called suckers list.
Moving savings from pension pots to ordinary accounts is the prevalent practice among savers taking advantage of the new freedoms, though it's tied with spending cash on daily living.
The chance to lock into a government scheme by paying national insurance class 3A voluntary contributions is only open for the next few months.
The new allowance will be added to the usual 25 per cent tax-free cash everyone can withdraw from their savings, the Government has announced.
A third of workers don't know that missing NI payments during career breaks could affect their state pension - although more than half of people take at least one year off during their lives. Workers need to make 35 years of NI contributions to get the full state pension, which is currently £155.65 a week for anyone retiring from April this year onwards.
Do you baulk at paying £150 a month for private health insurance, but want to be financially prepared in case you can't get quick treatment on the NHS? The answer could be to 'self-insure'.
Millions of pension pots are lying unclaimed and could provide a vital income boost to people in retirement.
Alexander Macrae, 82, (pictured) cannot afford to heat his large house, but is stuck living in it because the moment he sells Bank of Scotland will demand £147,250 - which will leave him with insufficent funds to buy a small flat. This is because, like thousands of pensioners, Mr Macrae signed up to a shared appreciation mortgage in the 1980s.
When the pound is weak against other currencies, British companies that do a lot of business in foreign countries get a boost.
A survey of 500 people who have accessed their pension since April of last year revealed that just one in six has budgeted for the cost of care as they grow older.
In pensioner households, some £4,300 goes on indirect taxes, like VAT on purchases and car tax, while around £2,700 is levied directly via income and council tax. Altogether, some 7.2million retired households shelled out £51billion in taxes in 2014/2015, the most recent year where figures are available. ...read ...read ...read
Pensioners who live in other EU countries or hope to do so in future have had retirement plans upended by the Brexit vote - and it might be years before they can make decisions with any certainty again. A deal on pensions will be crucial to retirees trying to decide whether they can still afford to live in an EU country after the UK's departure from the bloc. Nothing is certain, but there are real fears that EU expats will join the legions of other British retirees around the world stuck on frozen state pensions.
New inheritance tax rules will save up to £140,000 on family homes passed on after death, but they are not straightforward. We answer questions you might have.
The PPF was created to take on funds from collapsed firms, but Webb said funds at struggling companies should be put into the rescue scheme before firms fail.
The report by actuary Lane Clark & Peacock revealed that 56 companies in the blue-chip FTSE 100 index disclosed pension deficits worth a combined £42.3bn at the end of 2015.
The ABI said that while the vast majority of savers appear to be taking a 'sensible approach', a small minority may be withdrawing cash at a rate that sees their money run out in a decade or less.
Soaring government debt has been the biggest millstone around the necks of the young since 2000, but mounting pension liabilities have had the most significant impact over the past year, a study finds. The Intergenerational Fairness Index, which analyses nine separate indicators affecting young people - including housing, jobs and health - shows they are worse off on many fronts since the turn of the millennium. However, their overall situation has remained almost constant since 2013, according to the Intergenerational Foundation thinktank. ...read ...read ...read
The Government hasn't yet nailed down details of its plan to help young people save simultaneously for a home and retirement, according to top pension firms. Savers torn between these two important life goals were promised help with both by former Chancellor George Osborne in last Spring's Budget. But critics, including former Pensions Minister Ros Altmann, fear people who open Lifetime Isas will lose out on employer pension contributions and end up poorer in old age as a result.
Advisers are concerned stimulus measures from the Bank of England have given markets an unsustainable sugar rush and moving to lock in gains for pension savers in case of a slump.
The pensions row will, of course, rumble on, but what may be crucial now is that the significance of this debacle extends far beyond BHS. The state of the UK's defined benefit pension schemes is grim.
Britain's company pension schemes, were once the pride of the Western world. What is really needed is a regulatory regime that requires companies to fund their schemes adequately.
I have a pension pot worth £51,000 and want to use new pension freedoms to bequeath it to my children and grandchildren.
Pension age deadlines are far more fluid nowadays as older people have gained greater control over when they retire and how they run their finances in old age. But the traditional age milestones of 55, 65 and 75 are still important markers that call for informed decisions - even if it is just to postpone doing anything while still in the earlier stages.
Legal expert Nigel Shepherd, national chair of family law organisation Resolution, explains what a partner can claim from an estate, and how the cash machine withdrawal might affect the case.
Pension experts are worried pension sweeteners once dubbed 'plasma TV deals' are making a comeback as firms look to cope with the new funding crisis in final salary pensions.
Money Mail today reveals how the Bank of England's bid to boost the economy has left pensioners with incomes of just £6 a day after a lifetime of saving. Four of Britain's biggest insurers have slashed pension payouts since official interest rates were halved and billions of pounds was pumped into the economy last week.
Age UK says those with dementia or reduced cognitive function are the most vulnerable, but adds that elderly women are twice as likely to be preyed on as men.
In seven years, the highest rate on bank savings accounts and Isas has fallen from more than 5 per cent to 2.2 per cent. That's a loss of more than £1,000 annual interest on a £40,000 retirement fund.
I have Power of Attorney for my mum who is 95 and in a care home. Is it OK for me to sell her house as the tenants renting it have given notice? She is not desperate for the money but it would ease our minds about further increases in her care home fees. ...read ...read ...read
The inquiry into the Regulator by the Work and Pensions Committee will consider whether it should be given new teeth to block takeovers, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. Committee chair Frank Field MP (pictured) has indicated he favours such new powers but is also set to turn the spotlight on the Regulator's senior officers, calling them back for a fresh grilling in the wake of the BHS scandal.
Theresa May's director of policy has said pensioners should downsize or remortgage their homes to pay for care bills as there is an 'awful lot of money' trapped in the value of older people's houses.
A worrying report by respected consultancy firm McKinsey & Company predicts an end to the 'golden age' of bumper returns from the stock market.
Both annuities and final salary pensions, which provide retirees with a guaranteed income for life, are underpinned by gilt yields, which plummeted to fresh record lows after the rate cut.
People who signed up more than five years ago to drawdown pensions that allow some cash withdrawals are being forced to pay the fees.
The 400,000 Britons living in Spain are divided over what Brexit means for their futures. Some believe life will go on as usual. Others fear changes to healthcare and pensions falls that could force them to return.
Prudential has recorded a huge shift since 2008, as back then women retired on £11,300 - 46 per cent less than men - and now they expect to get an average annual income.of £14,450 a year.
Middle England is being squeezed. It is time for a new approach, says Britain's former pensions minister. It is important to recognise that lower interest rates can have negative consequences for growth too. For example, savers may have to reduce their spending as rates decline. ...read ...read ...read
Prime Minister Theresa May and her team were forced to deny plans to slash state pension payouts for millions of Britons, over the weekend. A memo, written by Baroness Ros Altmann, who was pensions minister until stepping down when the new Prime Minister started, stated the guarantee would not be affordable if the economy hit trouble and that it had 'fulfilled its purpose'.
Many savers end up in their employer's 'default' funds, chosen for the whole workplace. Pension consultant Punter Southall Aspire put nine to the test - and found they don't follow a standard model at all.
One company lost documents on 16 separate occasions and another charged £20 to reply to an information request, said new online player PensionBee.
With the Bank of England potentially cutting interest rates on Thursday, the crisis affecting many older types of 'gold-plated' company pensions looks set to continue.
Manual workers, carers and people with low life expectancy are among groups which it is feared will be penalised by increases to the state pension age.
Britain's retirees face an increasingly nightmarish cocktail of woes: rock-bottom savings rates, no annuity income worth mentioning and their money locked into the one asset they don't want to sell - their home. They may have no choice. Research from Aviva has found that almost a quarter of Britons over the age of 45 with a mortgage are expecting not to have paid it off by the time they retire.
Lenders' strict age caps on mortgages blocked many older workers and pensioners from getting a deal. But as more face debt in retirement, some are now scrapping limits.
Only a third believe state pension will be as generous when they retire as it is today and just 11 per cent believe it will be more generous, the survey of about 4,000 people found.
The Financial Conduct Authority has launched the investigation amid concerns that savers are in danger of being ripped off when they cash in their pensions.
Pension contributions made by UK workers topped £9 billion last year, up nearly a fifth (17 per cent) compared to the 2010/11 tax year.
Over a third of grandparents across the UK make sacrifices in order to be able to give money to their families, research suggests. Nearly 60 per cut down on socialising to help fund their families, while 24 per cent don't go on holiday to ensure they have cash to spare for loved ones, Homewise said. Eighteen per cent have cancelled refurbishments to their home in order to provide money to younger relatives, while the same percentage have even reduced their food bill in order to help their loved ones, the findings add. ...read ...read ...read
As the Government has appointed Richard Harrington (pictured) as the new Pensions Minister, pension experts have expressed their view on what his priorities should be. Richard Parkin, head of Pensions at Fidelity International said the new government has got a lot on its plate at the moment. Here are what Fidelity believes are the six key priority areas for government policy on pensions.
The role of pensions minister has been replaced with that of a parliamentary under secretary - to be taken by Richard Harrington MP - a considerably lowlier position.
As our new Pensions Minister, Richard Harrington MP replaces Baroness (Ros) Altmann, who quit last Friday. Sadly, the contrast between the two could not be greater.
The deficits of all schemes eligible to join Britain's pensions lifeboat increased from May's £294.6bn by a staggering £89bn, as Brexit fears have hammered their investments. Data from the Pension Protection Fund, which dishes out compensation to staff in certain circumstances, revealed the total deficit of all eligible schemes £383.6billion by the end of June, from £209.6billion at the same point a year earlier - an annual increase of 83 per cent.
Thousands of savers with old with-profit pension plans have had their retirement hopes dashed by a double whammy of crashing returns and the worst payout rates in history.
Insurers such as Standard Life, Prudential and Legal & General try to cover their tracks. They make it incredibly difficult to find information about how much they are paying customers.
Millions of workers are being enrolled with NEST - the state scheme for firms that did not have pensions. Now, a consultation has been launched to consider if NEST should offer withdrawal deals too.
Pensioners and families are receiving threatening letters out of the blue from debt recovery agents demanding immediate payment to HMRC in a drive to collect missing taxes.
In the past 18 years, Dennis Wilson has won fame, praise and an honorary degree for his World War II poetry. He's even met the Queen and discovered four long-lost brothers. He has just one regret: paying £24 a month for an insurance plan that will provide his family with a £1,757 lump sum when he dies. He has now forked out three times as much as his family will eventually receive.
The Pensions Ombudsman Service handled nearly 5,000 cases altogether, although only around 1,360 were pursued for investigation. Some 63 per cent of investigations were resolved informally, and 37 per cent formally. Where the ombudsman did make a formal decision, around 40 per cent of cases were upheld or partly upheld.
LV= reckons that some 1.2million or 11 per cent of retirees could be depending regularly, from time to time or on occasion on financial help from loved ones.
Engineer CH2M, which has a number of contracts including work on the HS2 Railway, has been given permission to dump 3,000 savers from the Halcrow scheme into the Pension Protection Fund.
Peter and Sandra Whiston, both retired and in their 70s, who were mis-sold a risky property investment, have been left £43,000 out of pocket.
A collapse in gilt yields - the interest earned on UK Government bonds - could be building a 'pension time bomb'.
While many people dislike the idea of an annuity, the alternative means keeping your pension invested in retirement and managing it yourself - a process that can be confusing and full of pitfalls. So here's a checklist, from investing, to income, taxes, the state pension, inheritance, illness, financial advice and much else.
With probably months of share price swings ahead, it's easy to panic. But that's the worst thing to do. Instead, the message from expert investors is to keep calm and carry on. Stock markets will always move up and down, and investing for the long term means you can ride out the bumps. Here's our guide to making the Brexit market turmoil work for you and your pension. ...read ...read ...read
Our ability to build retirement wealth through saving into a pension faces a multitude of challenges in the wake of the country's decision to vote to leave the EU.
Pension deficits could balloon after a collapse in the interest rate paid on Government bonds.
Taking an income from shrinking investments early on can do disproportionate and irrecoverable damage to your income drawdown plan. So what are your options after Brexit?
Despite the fact that they were unable to vote in the referendum, the impact of Brexit on expat pensioners is considerable.
The government has agreed to send out the letters over concerns tens of thousands of Britons are reaching retirement age and may not realise that they can't depend on receiving a state pension. The move comes after a group of MPs raised serious concerns about people's confusion around the new state pension, which will leave anyone with fewer than ten qualifying years of national insurance ineligible for any state pension at all. ...read ...read ...read
There's a lot of tosh talked in the heat of a referendum battle. But there are bound to be consequences for savers approaching retirement and pensioners now the UK has broken with Europe We look at what might really happen.
If you have nominated someone in a power of attorney document to help manage your money your bank should treat them as though they are the original customer.
The insurer will no longer compete to lure in customers whose pensions are held at other firms. Experts are concerned that the move could result in lower rates for loyal customers.
On top of exit fees - which are being capped at 1 per cent from next April - savers can face a welter of other charges, according to a Citizens Advice report.
Probate fees are currently a flat £215 for all estates worth £5k-plus. But hefty increases are in the pipeline, escalating from £300 up to £20,000 at the top end.
Up until the judgment experts feared that new pension freedoms could mean struggling borrowers facing insolvency would be forced to withdraw their retirement nest eggs to pay off debts.
Robert Deluce, 65, says he phoned Aegon half a dozen times but was given a different reason for his pension paperwork not being processed every time he spoke to staff. He says the entire frustrating saga could have been avoided if Aegon staff had just told him the problem straight away instead of giving him so many contradictory explanations.
Research suggests that many people leave retirement planning too late, with some 42 per cent saying they are now worried about running out of money in retirement, according to Experian.
Pension investors can stash gold bullion bought from the Royal Mint in their retirement pots from today, the 1,000-year-old supplier has announced.
People who cash in or move pension pots will no longer face rip-off charges after the introduction of a 1% cap next April. But what if you have already paid, or want your pension before next Spring?
My employer is closing its final salary pension scheme to new contributions from all staff still in it and is transferring us to a defined contribution plan.
The taxman has started deducting money from monthly pensions or salaries to cover dues on what it thinks pensioners get each month from savings interest. In reality, savers are being taxed before the savings interest hits their bank account. This is because savings interest is usually paid only once a year, rather than monthly.
This means customers with Britain's biggest building society are unable to share the burden of helping loved ones do their shopping or pay bills - even with their sibling.
Former pensions minister Steve Webb said that if complex rule changes go ahead, many final salary scheme holders could lose as much as £10,000 over the term of their retirement.
More than a third of this year's retirees are providing financial help of£250 a month on average, while one in seven are spending more than £500 a month on their family.
Starting tomorrow, Financial Planning Week will offer free one-to-one surgeries with advisers to anyone who wants to get their financial affairs in order.
My transfer value quoted 12 months ago was just over £115k but the current figure is just under £75k. The administrators will not divulge the assumptions they have used to explain this significant fall in value.
The move could save around three-quarters of a million savers thousands of pounds for their retirement.
The Bank of England's chief economist Andy Haldane admits to being stumped and says he cannot make the 'remotest sense' of his retirement savings.
Insurers have used EU red tape as an excuse to chop pension payouts to record lows - while reportedly pocketing bumper profits.
TV presenter Nick Hewer - host of Countdown and formerly an aide to Lord Sugar on The Apprentice - is the face of a new campaign to crack down on so-called 'boiler room' scams. Thousands of people are affected each year but the true figure is unknown because most people are too embarrassed to report the crime.
An in-depth study of over-55s following pension freedoms reveals many people struggle to make a decision, while others are switching money into savings accounts and buy-to-let property, or simply eager to 'treat' themselves. Take a quiz to find out what kind of pension 'personality' you are, and what that could mean for your financial security in old age.
The huge overhaul allows older savers unrestricted access to their whole pension pots, and removes the need to buy an annuity to provide guaranteed income for life. But pension experts warn freedom reforms bring big and serious risks, like fraudsters stealing people's life savings, baffled retirees paying far too much tax, and the possibility of some treating their savings like a cash windfall and blowing them too fast.
For decades it has been the default option for most people on the day you retire: you take 25 per cent of your pension as a tax-free lump sum.
Seven out of 10 people find it 'shocking' and 'unfair' when they realise taking full advantage of the Goverment's pension freedom reforms could land them with a surprise tax bill.
It's taken 20 years of campaigning by this newspaper - sometimes against governments of the day, other times against big corporate vested interests in the financial world. But after all the battling - and going a little greyer on top - it's time to raise a glass of prosecco and toast a new era. The great pensions revolution has arrived: goodbye unwieldy, straight- jacketing pensions; hello pensions fit for a modern, flexible Britain. From April 6, the pension pendulum swings firmly from provider to you, the consumer, the investor. Rejoice.
Secret law that says you CAN cash in your annuity, but (surprise, surprise) insurers are refusing to pay up
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Should final salary pensions be cut to help employers? Or retirees offered chance to transfer out?
Radical ideas to tackle deficits floated
As 40 estates a week go unclaimed - here's why you should write a will and how to arrange your bequests for free
My brother wants to force our elderly parents to tell him what's in their will - and change it if he's not happy. Can they keep it secret?
JEFF PRESTRIDGE
Our pensions don't need any more tinkering - and '100 minus age' tax relief plan is barmy
Why the final salary pensions black hole has ballooned to £710BILLION, how it could be fixed and whether retirees will inevitably lose it...
MS sufferer battles for 18 months to draw early pension before ex-employer Premier Foods heeds her pleas for help
I've got a new job and will be joining the pension scheme
What do I need to ask and do with my old pensions?
Revealed: How you could shave 17 YEARS off your retirement age by moving your pension pot to a fund with low fees
Do you want instant shelter against inheritance tax?
New product offers a refuge for your cash - if you part with 6.84% in fees for two years
Travesty of the vanishing pension: Paul's was worth £1,300 in the 90s. This year he was told there's nothing left - and he OWES £37.32
'Golden age' of retirement has seen pensioner incomes double in two decades
But it's drawing to a close for future generations
Break the pensions 'roadblock'
Fears over the economy mean many are stalling on retirement planning...
Dorset tops league of best spots to spend your retirement, with Herefordshire and West Sussex the joint runners up
Should you 'self insure' your health?
Cost of going private for common medical procedures revealed
Revealed: The pensioners trapped in their homes by lenders ready to snatch up to 75% of their home's value when they sell up
Will EU expats have state pensions frozen?
Retirees in dark over future finances after Brexit vote
The shares sharks getting rich preying on British savers
We reveal the binary trading victims - and the ruthless salesmen they blame
Is now a good time to buy emerging markets?
Investing Show
How to invest for children: The best ways to start early as the Junior Isa turns five
Tips to invest
Can ethical funds keep up with their rivals? Study claims the 'feel-good' factor costs investors
But fans say a positive impact matters
Lightbulb moment helps newly-listed Luceco shine
MIDAS SHARE TIPS
Inflation rise isn't necessarily bad for savers, but it means a change of investment strategy is needed
How to tackle inflation
Nine investment experts reveal what has them spooked this Halloween
Forget ghosts and ghouls
Would you buy into a specialist trust for higher income of 7%?
And this sector is on a discount
The investment where inflation spells good news
MOMENTUM FACTOR 5 FUND
Fidelity European Values manager who returned 100% in five years on why he's buying some banks
Sam Morse interview
Marmitegate was just the beginning
Experts warn spat was 'thin edge of the wedge', so should investors stick with supermarkets and retail?
How LOW can it go?
The winners and losers in the pound crisis - and how to smooth its negative effects
Fidelity's bargain hunter Alex Wright
Why I'm backing Sports Direct - and buying into companies with pension deficits
Five future fund stars who could make you rich
Get on board early to really rake in the returns
Would you like an expert's help with your investments and savings?
Get ideas to improve your wealth in our Money Pit Stop
Where are investors buying ETFs? T
op destinations for index investing revealed... and the area being ditched
MINOR INVESTOR
If the pound keeps falling the FTSE 100 could hit 7,700, says Richard Buxton - crazy as that may sound
Annuities are no longer the only option for taking an income and retirees now have a wealth of options from staying invested and taking money out through income drawdown, putting money in a fund portfolio or combining everything through 'third-way products'.
I will reach state pension age before next April so I am allowed to top up my state pension, but I am in two minds about whether to do this.
'Pension recycling' allows people to boost their retirement pot by generating extra tax relief - but anyone tempted risks a financial penalty if they overstep the rules.
Our pensions are changing - radically. Some say for better, others for worse. We say, make yourself as best informed as you can be with a copy of this super free guide.
We tend to put ambitious targets on our hoped-for income in retirement and then underestimate how much we will need to set aside to achieve that. So how much should you save?
We explain the upcoming rule changes to the state pension age. Find out when you will be allowed to retire ...read ...read ...read
Most of us have a clear idea of how we plan to use our tax-free lump sum. Far more important is what we do with the remaining three-quarters.
The new web option, which offers state pension forecasts to people of all ages, hasn't been fully publicised yet - but you can test out the early 'beta' version and provide feedback.
Modern family dynamics are also causing more rows, with divorce, second marriages, stepchildren and half-brothers and sisters now common. The more extended the family, the more likely it is that arguments will arise. One of the most recent high-profile cases is a dispute over the legacy left by Lynda Bellingham, who starred in the Oxo adverts in the Eighties.
Death is unavoidable - but the way we are laid to rest is still largely in our control. We examine the key decisions you need to make on a funeral.
Many people put off thinking about their mortality. But there is vital paperwork to sort out before your time comes to an end.
Instead of being stuck with stingy annuities, retirees now have the freedom to dip into their pensions using income drawdown. These schemes allow you to take sums out of your pension pot while the rest stays invested. So what are the advantages and risks of doing this, and what schemes are on offer? We run through the main options now, and look ahead to what might become available in future.
Over-55s will be able to cash in their entire pension from this April, an opportunity that could tempt many to plunge their savings into buy-to-let property.
If you signed up to a work pension scheme but took no further action, your savings are most likely in a 'default' investment fund. How do you check if it's any good?
With-profits policyholders often face an impossible choice about when to take their benefits. Turn down today's offer and tomorrow's may be lower. How can you decide when it's time to leave?
The majority of employees change jobs several times in their working lives - with the average person working for 11 different employers.
People nearing retirement traditionally switch savings out of risky investments and into safer assets, but pension freedom reforms are likely to prompt a big rethink of this practice. That's because derisking - or 'lifestyling' as it's also known - is normally done in preparation for buying an annuity, but many more people will be opting to stay invested an draw down an iincome in future.
The over-50s are the ones to watch when it comes to start-ups and new pension freedom rules mean an extra opportunity to tap into cash for business ideas. A recent report from the Global
Entrepreneurship Monitor highlighted this age group as being increasingly entrepreneurial. We explain the options and pitfalls of using your pension pot to fund a business. ...read ...read
...read
Hunting down travel cover can be both difficult and expensive with older travellers typically paying more for insurance because they are judged more likely to claim.
Jeff Prestridge looks at legitimate ways in which the 40 per cent tax can be avoided, outlining six key steps for readers. Bridget Jones, pictured, has taken out insurance.
Pension freedom reforms will give people more decision-making power over their retirement savings from next year. The options to access your money, spend or invest it will widen - although your choices will still largely depend on the size of your pension pot. Financial experts Mark Stone of Whitechurch Securities and Ben Westaway of Jessop Financial Planning explain both your opportunities and the limitations on them.
Talk of 'pensions freedom' has left some savers with the impression they can take their entire pot and pay little or no tax. That is not true. We explain what will happen.
The average cost of being a pensioner is £10,387-a-year, according to analysis that focused on how much over-65s spend on basic necessities.
Anyone going it alone when they're investing their pension could be met with a confusing array of jargon, even when carrying out the simplest of tasks.
Insurers have noted a rise in the number of calls from final salary pension savers about transferring to a money purchase scheme since the Budget.
Conventional wisdom says we all want to retire to a house by the sea or a cottage in the country with roses round the door. But finding that perfect retirement property is not easy - and buying it can involve some big financial decisions. Here are the pros, cons and challenges of upsizing, downsizing or staying put.
Retirement homes have shed their image of dark and dreary buildings and now offer luxury complexes or villages with on-site facilities aimed at older people. But banks won't give you a mortgage to buy a sheltered housing or retirement village property, so you will need the cash to fund it yourself.
Modern work pensions mean that your retirement income is your responsibility. You and your employer put money into your personal pot, which should grow over time to eventually provide a nice healthy sum. Clearly, that makes engaging with yours a good idea. We explain how to get started. ...read ...read ...read ...read
Pensions minister Steve Webb has announced that all defined contribution workplace pension providers will have to offer complete transparency to savers
A new flat rate state pension worth £144 a week in today's money is being introduced from 2016, while complicated and unfair old rules are being swept away. What will the changes mean for you?
Are you at risk of leaving your family with nothing but legal bills because of a badly written will? Find out what your options are and how to guard yourself against an invalid will.
Combining pension pots built up in different jobs could make real financial sense
A major report into how pension pots are turned into income at retirement is expected to be published by the Financial Conduct Authority this week.
Almost two million married retirees receive a state pension top-up based on their partner's work record but this will close to all claimants in 2016. This is Money takes a look at who this will affect.
The rise of DIY online investing has transformed the way people are able to save for retirement, but navigating the maze of Sipp charges can be a tricky task.
I want to ensure that if I die before my husband he gets the money, but if he remarried and then died my half would end up with my children not any new spouse or her children. How can I safeguard so that any new wife would not reap the rewards of what we have built up and at some point my children will get something from my estate?
The final salary pension fund at my company is in deficit. The situation has not been helped by the big market falls since the New Year. How worried should I be about this?
I have inherited a pension pot from an elderly relative. I am not sure what to do with it. What are the rules? Pension export David Smith of Tilney Bestinvest explains.
He suddenly kept turning up on my relative's doorstep prior to her death after ignoring her for years, redid her will to leave all assets to his own wife and appointed himself executor. By the time family members had been informed of the death, he and his wife had the house cleared out and all family items sent to an auction, and had a fast funeral with no announcement or attendees apart from him and his kids. We have no idea how much the assets were worth but there were valuable paintings, antiques and at least £50,000 in cash. Is this legal and what action can be taken?
I had £44,000 in shares, but in the last few months I have seen the amount go down by nearly £4,000.What advice would you give, as only my Neil Woodford shares are holding up. My Hargreaves Lansdown multi-manager portfolio, Royal Mail and Polar Capital Biotechnology shares are losing interest. Should I cash in, transfer to a building society or move the shares to somewhere else? I am recently retired, and these shares were my pension pot. ...read ...read ...read
I retired last year and put about £80,000 in an income drawdown plan following the pension freedom reforms.The trouble is my portfolio is doing badly, and I'm really worried about the impact of all these market losses since the start of the year. What should I do - change the investments in my portfolio, reduce the income I take from it, think again about buying an annuity, or something else?
I am aged 61 and my husband 63. After 40 years of marriage my husband and myself are going to separate. We have split everything 50/50, but can our pensions be left as they are?
I'm still years away from retirement, so how should I know whether I'd want to go for drawdown, an annuity or cash in the future? How do I decide what's best to do?
My mother recently died and I was shocked to discover that she left her entire estate to a local charity, despite the fact that I own next to nothing. Can I challenge the will?
Pension expert David Smith calculates that topping up by the full amount and deferring for just one year could increase your state pension income by 34 per cent to £159.13 a week.
I am a 58-year-old woman with 32 years of National Insurance contributions. I don't know how to ensure I get the maximum state pension when I retire at 66 in 2023.
It's sensible to consider the impact on your state pension if your work situation changes - you don't want to lose out by making careless and avoidable mistakes.
I'm really worried I won't qualify for the new, full flat-rate pension when I retire because I opted out of paying National Insurance contributions for five years back in the 1990s. now I understand the Government is going to reduce my state pension based not just on the years I opted out, but on what it thinks I might have gained in my private pension during that time - and it'll do this even if I manage to make full NI contributions for 35 years.
I was planning to use buy-to-let properties to fund my retirement, instead of a traditional pension pot, but the Chancellor is reducing tax relief available. Is my plan no longer viable?
I've been asked to be an executor - should I do it, what will it entail and am I liable if something goes wrong?
I'm talking to my children about how best to leave them an inheritance. Should I keep as much as possible in my pension pot, or buy a house worth £1million?
My husband and I are coming up to retirement and though we don't have much of a pension, we do have £180,000, which we would like to invest to give us an income. Is it better to buy shares or funds?
Phoenix say the Retirement Annuity Trust with them cannot be broken and I now find that almost all other providers will not take a policy in Trust. Am I correct in thinking that in spite of what the pension freedom legislation proposes, I'm locked into Phoenix Life and will have to take their annuity no matter how poor its value or cash it in?
I will reach state pension age in a couple of years but I am worried that I will not have paid enough national insurance contributions to qualify for my state pension. How many years of work do I need to be eligible for the new single-tier state pension and can I buy extra credits? ...read ...read ...read ...read
I am three years away from retirement and earn £70,000 a year. Our children have left home and finished university and my wife and I now only have ourselves to support. A friend told me I should pay as much of my salary into a pension as possible over the next three years before I retire. Is this worth doing?
Holder of Aegon with profits policy wants to know how his 'terminal bonus' could have been cut 46%, drastically reducing his pension pot, while stock markets reached record highs. He asks: 'Where did this money go to? At what point during the last two years did it disappear?
I'm looking for what to do with my pension pot in a few months when I retire. Ideally I'd like to not buy an annuity, and hopefully keep some or all of the pot to pass on to my wife or the next generation. While I'd be happy researching which funds to invest in now, I guess I'm not the best person to do this and I certainly wouldn't want to be doing this with a fading memory or mental capacity.
Today I received a cold call and follow-up email from a company about pensions advice. How can I tell if it's true or a scam? Or can you point me in a better direction?
She wants to sell it to me minus the 1/3 inheritance I would have received. Am I likely to encounter any roadblocks with tax?
I have a private pension pot of about £50,000, alongside a final salary scheme that will pay me £10,000 a year. How do I weigh up whether to take a tax-free lump sum?
The letter explained that because he already has an annual annuity of £758 from Prudential he does not qualify for a trivial pension payout.
I'm worried I might not qualify for the new full state pension, but I can't check because the Government is only sending forecasts to people aged 55 and over. I fear that some of my employers opted me out of the second-tier state pension without me realising what they were doing or the implications of it at the time. I don't recall ever signing anything specific, but they might have notified me in the packets of bumpf they sent me and I never read.
| Prize value | Winning bond No. | Area |
|---|---|---|
| £1,000,000 | 64ST558712 | Bristol |
| £1,000,000 | 196XC935430 | Norwich |
| £100,000 | 73XC247749 | South Gloucestershire |
| £100,000 | 209BT382482 | West Sussex |
| £100,000 | 196QY362195 | Tyne and Wear |
| £50,000 | 48QF456615 | North East Scotland |
| £50,000 | 279LW728226 | Shropshire |
| £50,000 | 254GR423814 | North Yorkshire |
| £50,000 | 159NM557980 | Suffolk |
| £50,000 | 140PB015876 | Avon |
| £25,000 | 41VP618789 | Somerset |
When do you think you will retire?
The end of gold-plated pensions and lousy investment returns mean 70 is the new 60.
What is pension liberation and how risky is grabbing your retirement pot early?
Are they freedom fighters or fraudsters?
Should you stick with a lifestyle pension or move your pot in case the bond bubble bursts as you approach retirement?
Can I take my entire small pension pot as a tax free lump sum and leave my final salary scheme untouched?
Answers depends on pension arrangements
How to make the most of a smaller pension pot:
Don't stand by as your nest egg is eaten up by low rates and inflation
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