Latest news from the media

Post Office awarded card account contract

DWP

The Post Office has been awarded the contract to continue providing the Post Office Card Account (POCA), Secretary of State for Work and Pensions James Purnell announced today.  Read more

PPF PUBLISHES 2007/08 ANNUAL REPORT

PPF

The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) published its annual report for 2007/08  read more   

Pensions boost for millions of divorcees

This is money

Millions of divorcees, especially women, could benefit from changes being introduced to pension legislation next year.  Read more

Pension shake-up: Will you benefit?

This is money

In just over a month the financial shackles come off pension funds worth an estimated £350bn. From October, savers will have the option to control this money themselves, making their own choices about how their retirement savings grow.  Read more  

Young urged not to delay pensions

Press Association

Putting off saving for retirement could cost workers tens of thousands of pounds in the long run, research indicates.  Read more  

The state pension turns 100

BBC

The Old Age Pensions Act was passed in August 1908 and the first payments were made on 1 January 1909.  Read more  

Report on Women's Helpline Published

TPAS

The Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS) has published a report on the dedicated Women's Pensions Helpline it opened in February 2008. Originally the helpline was intended to run for only a limited period, but due to demand, it was subsequently decided to keep it open on a permanent basis.  Read more

Quarter of employees unaware of pensions tax relief

IFAOnline

More work must be done to build understanding of workforce pension benefits as research reveals five million people are unaware of pension tax relief, according to The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF).  Read more

Pensions turning into a postcode lottery in September

Daily Mail

Middle-class savers may face another obstacle to hopes of a comfortable retirement.  Read more

Future pensions less than minimum wage

Times online

The average UK household can expect to see its income fall by 53 per cent on retirement, new research from Fidelity International, a pension provider, has shown. Read more

Tube cleaners could strike over pensions and pay

Professional Pensions

More than 700 Tube cleaners are set to be balloted for industrial action over pension provision and other employment conditions, the Rail, Maritime and Transport union says.  Read more  

Sex and the City generation shirks financial responsibility

Professional pensions

The "Sex and the City generation" is shirking financial responsibility, Friends Provident claims.  Read more

After the 10p rate row, fears grow over back-taxes threat to pensioners

Observer 

The Revenue is to pursue a charge on pensions that has lain dormant for years.  Read more

Government to allow auto-enrolment into workplace personal pensions - UPDATED

Professional Pensions

THE government will to amend the Pensions Bill 2007 to allow automatic enrolment into workplace personal pensions from 2012.  Read more

Search is on for women victims of £1bn unpaid pensions fiasco

Times

Up to 500,000 women who took time off work to bring up their children are in line for £1 billion in unpaid state pension benefits.  Read more

How to close the pensions gender gap

Sunday Herald

Women get a raw deal when it comes to pensions: the average woman can expect to retire on an income of just £11,291, around half the typical annual retirement income of a man at £20,790, according to figures from Prudential. Worse, Help the Aged calculates that about 66% of pensioners in poverty are women.  Read more

Death-in-service payouts at risk as firms cash in final salary schemes

Guardian

More than 12 million people are estimated to be in final-salary schemes, where boards of trustees decide to whom benefits should be paid in such situations. But changes in ownership of these schemes is cutting out the trustees' role and taking away scope for discretionary decisions.  Read more 

TPAS Launches Internet Annuity Planner

TPAS

The Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS) is pleased to announce the launch of a web based tool to help people with the choices and decisions they have to make when they come to retire and want to turn their pension saving into an annuity.   Read more

Regulator sets out strategic direction for next three years

Pensions Regulator

The Pensions Regulator today published its second corporate plan, setting out its view of the pensions landscape, strategic direction and outcomes to be achieved during the next three years.  Read more

Sex discrimination law changes could force employers to pay more

Professional pensions

CHANGES to sex discrimination legislation could make employers liable for maternity leave pension contributions beyond the statutory 39 weeks, law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner claims.  Read more

How to choose a pension

Times online

Times Money guides you through the different type of pensions and assesses their suitability

Retirement planning is vital if you do not want to face poverty when you reach your sixties. The best option, if it is available, is to join your company’s occupational pension scheme because most employers will top up your contributions. Read more

Pensions minister urges employers to encourage gradual retirement

Personnel today

Employers must help over-55s to retire gradually rather than encourage a 'sudden stop' approach to work, the pensions minister has urged.  Read more

Budget 2008: New rules to free “stranded” occupational pensions

The chancellor’s first budget has promised to relax rules to allow pensions below the value of £2,000 (approximately £100 a year) to be taken as a lump sum.

Currently, retirees over 60 can only convert small pensions into a lump sum if the combined value of all their separate arrangements adds up to less than £16,000.  This had led to many people who, having worked for a company and been a member of their pension scheme for only a short period of time, were left with ‘stranded pension pots’ which although several thousand pounds in value were too small to buy an annuity with and could not be converted into a lump sum either.

The new rules mean that each individual’s occupational pension arrangements will be viewed separately and not as a whole allowing people over 60 to free their ‘stranded’ pensions by taking them as a lump sum.  Pension experts have welcomed the move as common sense and excellent news for consumers.

If you are approaching retirement age and have one or more small company pensions from short periods of service and you are unsure of your options then please contact Usdaw’s Pensions Section on 0161 224 2804 ext.2586, via our website or at pensions_section@usdaw.org.uk.

Women's pensions fight goes back to Lords

This is money

The Government is facing renewed pressure to allow hundreds of thousands of women to buy back missing National Insurance contributions to boost their state pensions.  Read more

Pensions Helpline For Women

tpas

The Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS) is to launch a special pensions helpline for women to run for a 6 week period from 4 February 2008.  Read more

James Purnell appointed Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

dwp

The new Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, James Purnell, today announced his Ministerial Team.  read more 

Women's pensions explained

this is money

Many of the rules that affect women and pensions were drawn up when life was very different. They reflect a view of society where women did not commonly go out to work and were happy to rely financially on their husbands.     Read more

Anger as pension reform rejected

bbc.co.uk

The government has rejected a plan to let women boost their state pensions by buying up to nine years' worth of extra National Insurance (NI) contributions.  Read More

Just and final settlement for people who lost pensions - Hain

dwp

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Peter Hain today announced a substantial package of help for up to 140,000 people who lost savings when their employer-sponsored pension schemes collapsed.  Read more

Pensions deficit narrows by £38bn

Guardian

The deficit faced by the UK  's top 200 final salary pension schemes has fallen by £38bn in the past year with some firms now breaking even, research showed today.  Read more 

Scottish Widows Pensions report highlights long-term effects of inequalities

Scottish Widows

A recent new report published by Scottish Widows 'What women need: pension provision for today and tomorrow'. Read More 

Deregulation review "goes a step too far", says TUC

TUC

Commenting on the Government's response to the Lewin/Sweeney regulatory review of occupation pensions, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:

'The TUC has always accepted the case for a thorough review of the regulatory environment for occupational pensions, but there has always been a danger that deregulation strays into attacks on pension scheme members' rights and benefits. Read More 

Final salary pensions die out even for top executives

Reuters

LONDON  (Reuters) - Generous final salary pension schemes are a thing of the past, even for top executives, according to a report.

Some 70 percent of new senior employees at large British companies are now offered a defined contribution (DC) pension, research by global consultancy Watson Wyatt found.   Read more

Pensions boost for older women

bbc

Half a million women in their 60s could be due a payout from the state pension of £1,000 or more.

They are women who had not paid enough National Insurance contributions at work to get any state pension.   Read more

750,000 women get no state pension

Telegraph

The Government is abandoning a generation of women to poverty in retirement, a pensioners' group said yesterday.

The National Pensioners Convention (NPC) said 754,000 women aged between 60 and 69 did not receive any state pension because they had not made enough National Insurance contributions. The figure was revealed in a written parliamentary answer by the pensions minister, Mike O'Brien.  Read more

Poor pensioners 'wary of credits'

bbc

Many poorer pensioners are put off claiming pension credits to which they may be entitled, says a leading charity for the elderly.

A survey conducted for Age Concern suggests that 60% of poorer pensioners find the pension credit system is too daunting to submit a claim.  Read more

Women 'short-changed on pensions'

saveborrowspend

More needs to be done to help women prepare for their retirement, the Fawcett Society has said.

Spokesperson Sarah Campbell said women were less likely than men to have either a private or company pension and that "the onus must be on the government and employers to enable women to contribute to pensions through motherhood". Read more

Company pensions "inadequate"

Saveborrowspend

People are not making big enough pension contributions to secure their retirement.

According to a survey by consulting group Mercer, most company pension schemes are "inadequate".Read More

Union Calls for Right to Block Private Equity Deals

Professional Pensions

Employees should be given the same power as pension trustees to block unfair private equity deals, trade union Unite claims.

Deputy General Secretary, Jack Dromey, told the Trades Union Congress that "all the evidence we have seen is that jobs, pay, terms and conditions and pensions are put at risk when these companies come in".

He added: "The shroud of secrecy must be lifted, the tax regimes altered but above all our members must be offered protection."

A Treasury Select Committee inquiry is due to report next month but Dromey warned allowing private equity companies to regulate themselves would be "worse than useless".

Delta faces pension fight at Sainsbury

Telegraph

The pension deficit of J Sainsbury has emerged as a potential poison pill in the plans by Delta Two, the Qatari-backed fund, to take the supermarket chain private.

With the Sainsbury board expected to open its books to Delta Two as early as this week, it is understood the pension trustees intend to "do a Boots" by mounting an aggressive campaign to force the Qataris to pay billions into the scheme. It is believed the trustees, led by chairman John Adstead, are in a particularly strong position because there is a clause in the supermarket chain's pension trust that allows Adstead to demand increases in the company's contributions if there is a change of ownership. Read More

Pensions crisis looming for young people as many are gambling on property to pay for their retirement.

This is London

A bleak financial future awaits today's young adults because the proportion paying into pension schemes has halved in ten years and their debts have nearly doubled, a report reveals today. Read More

Hain promises 'justice' for pensioners

Politics.co.uk

Work and pensions secretary Peter Hain today promised redress for the victims of collapsed pension schemes.

He told union delegates in Brighton he was committed to "justice" for the pensioners "robbed" of their pensions when companies went bust.

The government has been criticised for failing to fully compensate employees who lost their savings in failed occupational pension schemes. Read More

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