Last week Baroness Altmann, the pensions minister stepped down from her role. Her position has more or less been scrapped and has been replaced as a parliamentary under secretary position, which has less authority. Her successor, Richard Harrington MP has never worked in pensions before.
Mr Harrington has a lot on his plate given how volatile the markets are following Brexit, and the radical pension changes which were introduced by George Osborne over the last few years. If you have a pension, or you are thinking of starting one, sound financial advice has never been more needed.
A major obstacle faced by Mr Harrington will be the government itself. Baroness Altmann has made it clear that she did not have the power to make good decisive changes, and in terms of hierarchy she and her role are higher than Harrington and his role. “Short-term political considerations…have inhibited good policy-making”.
One of the key problems is that the parliamentary under secretary will not have a budget, instead, should he need funds to finance a project, he has to beg the treasury for some cash. This situation is not the best. Finding solutions to issues such as Waspi, and a growing deficit in company pensions will not be easy.
Sadly, Baroness Altmann had some good ideas such as investing pension funds in infrastructure projects. Arguably more risk than government bonds, but over the long term risks tend to even out. The poor performance of government bonds is one of the reasons for company pension deficit, and so really is there anything to lose? Another idea was to make a pension lottery, similar to Premium Bonds in nature. The idea to encourage pension contributions.
Making your Pension work for you
As you can see state pensions are in crisis mode. The job of pension minister has gone, as with it arguably the best people. Pensions are complex and you need people who live and breathe pensions like the Baroness and her predecessor Steve Webb.
This is where I can help. I have years of financial planning experience and can help you find the best pension plan for you. We can look at your aspirations, income, and existing pensions you have and discuss the options. My financial advice is award winning, and I can explain the ideas and concepts behind pension products in plain English. To get started, click here and complete the CALL BACK SERVICE form. It is time to protect your pension from the politicians.
Source: Daily Mail
For more information, please contact Michele Carby at Holborn Asset Management on +971 50 618 6463 and on e-mail at [email protected]
