Quantitative Easing Your Annuity Income
Will inflation rear its ugly head and hammer the value of fixed annuity income?

Pensions Deficit Tops £300 Billion for FTSE 100 Companies
More than £300 billion is needed by pension scheme trustees of FTSE 100 companies to plug deficits in their schemes more than double the estimated aggregate deficit of £130 billion at the start of the year, according to new estimates.

State Pension Payment Alert   
About a quarter of a million people who make voluntary National Insurance contributions (NICs) each year should think again, the government has said.
 
Final Salary Pension Cuts   
A large pension consultancy firm – Aon recently announced that it plans to cut its contributions to its workers' pensions. 

 

Review Of Advice
 

Pension Advice Review - please fill in this short form now >

As we have mentioned previously, here at The Pension Zone we take what we do seriously and believe that you have the right to expect only the highest quality of advice. Unfortunately over the past 15 years, the Financial Services industry has not been faultless. The FSA has on more than one occasion either undertaken full blown reviews of advice that has been given ( think back to The Pension Transfer and Opt Out Reviews Phase 1 and 2), or has issued statements expressing concern at the way certain types of business are written. The most recent examples of this are:
 

Pension Release
 

March 2004

FSA Booklet– Pension Unlocking – make sure you understand the risks –
“Pension unlocking is only suitable for a very limited number of people and circumstances” issued by the FSA following small sample reviews of advice and followed by a number of company’s being fined.
 

Annuity Purchase

July 2008
Sarah Wilson, insurance sector leader at the FSA, said: 'The decision on whether to buy an annuity from a current provider or to switch to another insurer on the open market can influence an individual's lifetime income.
'Poor communications from insurers may result in people making poor decisions or failing to take any action to maximise their retirement income. At the same time, if a consumer decides to exercise the open market option, they can suffer if fund transfer does not happen in a timely manner.'
 

Pension Transfers

December 2008The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has been reviewing the quality of advice given to customers wanting to switch into a personal pension or self-invested personal pension (SIPP) plan.

The study focused on transfers since April 2006 from any registered pension scheme to a personal pension plan or SIPP, excluding transfers to group personal pensions, group SIPPs or stakeholder pensions.

The regulator reviewed 500 cases across 30 firms and found that standards were variable, with 16% of clients receiving unsuitable advice.

One quarter of firms involved were giving suitable advice consistently but for another one quarter of firms, a third or more of the cases reviewed were assessed as unsuitable.

01732 881188 - Pension Advice Review

Pension Zone 3 Station Road, Borough Green, Sevenoaks, Kent, TN15 8ER     Telephone. 0800 294 2300   Fax. 01732 881213    Email. dmcclure@aaltd.co.uk,mikehardyifa@gmail.com
Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Services Authority FSA No.402725 Registered Address: 3 Station Road Borough Green Sevenoaks Kent TN15 8ER. Registered in England. Registration No.3694074