The chair of a powerful Commons Committee has slammed the hasty way in which pension freedoms were introduced in 2015, leading to “a golden age for scammers”. Work and Pensions Committee (WPC) chairman Stephen Timms has echoed the views of Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey last spring, who told a Treasury Committee hearing that the premature introduction of freedoms […]

With new figures showing that the number of 50 to 64-year-olds out of work has climbed by 175,000 since the start of the pandemic, experts say ageism in recruitment could be the final straw which prevents many of this group ever returning to work. A new report from the Centre for Ageing Better has concluded that “Soul-destroying Ageism” is […]

A new report from insurance specialists British Seniors has revealed the biggest threats to the nation’s retirement plans – with Covid-19 right at the top. In fact, more than three quarters (77%) of those aged over 50 believed it will directly impact their ability to retire. Their “State of Retirement Report” reveals that nearly one in five (17%) of over […]

Few of us are making financial provision for the care we may well need in later life Going into a care home now costs up to £50,000 a year in some parts of the UK What are the criteria for getting your local authority to fund your care? How can you find out if YOU […]

My Desired Income The latest analysis from Moneyfacts show that – despite the turbulence caused by the pandemic, the average annual pension fund returned 4.9% growth in 2020. The news for annuity incomes was not so good, however. Not helped by record low interest rates, average returns were down over 6% – their third consecutive […]

There has been a call for government-backed training schemes to support older jobseekers back into the workplace after employment figures show that the long-term growth in employment for those aged over 50 in the UK has stalled as a result of the pandemic. New Labour Market Statistics show that older workers, together with the under […]

Planning for retirement is something most of us avoid like the plague. Conversely, many of us worry if we will *ever* have enough to retire. But there is a quickfire solution to both those conundrums that won’t cost the Earth… Did you know that the average time that we spend between retiring and shuffling off […]

Once again, the call has gone out (this time by Age UK) to create a Minister to represent the interests of older people in England. Why does the Government stubbornly continue to refuse to consider it? Did you know that we have a Minister for Children (and Families)? Or one for Women (and Equalities)? And […]

It’s nearly six years since the introduction of Pension Freedoms, which were intended to give savers greater choice and control over their Defined Contribution retirement funding. But a new report issues a stark warning that up to three quarters of savers are at risk of running out of funds during their retirement years – and […]

We recently launched an anonymised survey in conjunction with AgeWage to test the temperature on how those heading into retirement were being affected by the pandemic. Because the situation is still evolving, we have left the survey open and you can still take part by clicking here: Survey But in the interim we wanted to […]