Category Archives: Pensions

Who’s Keeping Track of Your Pension Entitlements?

General, Pensions,

lost pension

I was thinking over lunch about writing another blog post and wondering what subject I might pick and on returning to my desk the answer was staring me in the face in the form of an email from a pension administration company which I have been corresponding with for the last six months.

At the beginning of August 2016 a client asked me to review his existing pensions and to make a long story short I have spent the last six months corresponding with this company in an effort to locate one of his pensions from an employer which he previously worked for. I’ve had to endure some very high minded rebukes from this company to the effect that I was wasting their time etc and in mid-November they told me that they weren’t willing to investigate the matter any further unless I was able to provide evidence that the pension was managed my them. Continue reading Who’s Keeping Track of Your Pension Entitlements? →

***Deadline Extension*** for return of ACC Bank Pension Option Forms

General, Pensions,

acc-bank

It’s not too late to late to make a decision about what you want to do with your ACC Bank pension entitlement. The deadline for return of your completed option form had originally been set for 31 January, however Aon Hewitt have extended the deadline to 8 February.

If you previously worked for ACC Bank / ACC Loan Management and were a member of the Bank’s defined contribution pension scheme you will have received a letter in recent weeks informing you that you must transfer your pension out of the scheme. The letter gives you the following options; Continue reading ***Deadline Extension*** for return of ACC Bank Pension Option Forms →

Bond Markets, Bubbles and Tantrums

Pensions, Savings and Investments, ,

id-1009160

There’s an old saying (which I don’t subscribe to due to its crudeness!) that there are three roads to financial ruin – alcohol, gambling and women. The saying goes that alcohol is the most certain, gambling is the quickest and women is the most fun. The world has changed and there are now many more roads to financial ruin and some of them aren’t near as much fun as any of the above.

Anyone keeping even one eye on the investment markets in recent months will have seen headlines which declare that there is a bubble in bond prices and that it might be about to burst. So why would bond prices fall, is it likely to be severe and why should you care?

Continue reading Bond Markets, Bubbles and Tantrums →

Do you have a pension entitlement from a previous employer?

General, Pensions, ,

  • Did you leave a previous employment where you had a pension entitlement?
  • Do you know how much it is worth or what it is invested in?
  • Do you know how much is deducted in charges?
  • Do you know who has responsibility for the stewardship of your pension?
  • Can you make fund switches with ease and speed if you need to?

If you have a defined contribution pension entitlement from a previous employment, it usually makes sense to move it into what is known as a Personal Retirement Bond, also known as a Buy-Out Bond.

If left in your previous employers scheme any amendments you wish to make to your pension must be signed off by the Trustees. This can take considerable time. Some companies who administer company pensions impose their own rules such as restricting fund switches to certain times of the month. Some companies have a lock in period during which no fund switches can be performed. Continue reading Do you have a pension entitlement from a previous employer? →

Business picking up? Upward pressure on wages? Staff leaving for better opportunities elsewhere? How to retain staff without breaking the bank.

Pensions

Whilst acknowledging that the recession hasn’t ended for everyone in the country as some areas and some sectors are still finding the environment challenging, many businesses especially those in urban areas would say that activity has picked up quite noticeably in the last 12 to 18 months.

For some businesses this will present a whole new set of challenges as they will need to expand to cater for increased demand and in the majority of cases this will have to be funded without bank finance. Another challenge that some businesses may face is upward pressure on costs such as wages. As the economy improves, staff will seek to recover the gains which were lost during the recession through pay cuts, reductions in bonuses and overtime and through higher taxes. Now that the economy finally appears to be turning, one of the biggest risks to your business might be loss of experienced staff to your competitors. We have a solution. Continue reading Business picking up? Upward pressure on wages? Staff leaving for better opportunities elsewhere? How to retain staff without breaking the bank. →

Do you have a pension entitlement from a previous employer?

Pensions

  • Did you leave a previous employment where you had a pension entitlement?
  • Do you know how much it is worth or what it is invested in?
  • Do you know how much is deducted in charges?
  • Do you know who has responsibility for the stewardship of your pension?
  • Can you make fund switches with ease and speed if you need to?

If you have a defined contribution pension entitlement from a previous employment it usually makes sense to move it into what is known as a Personal Retirement Bond, also known as a Buy-Out Bond. Continue reading Do you have a pension entitlement from a previous employer? →