Retirement

Legal & General has produced an update for IFAs on the implications age discrimination regulations will have on group risk benefits.

I was hoping any major developments in the pensions world would happen while I was away in Germany, so I could come back to work when all the hard stuff was over.

Rising house costs over the last 10 years has seen inflation for pensioners rise by 34%, claims Clerical Medical.

Messages about the need to plan for retirement seem to be making an impact, claims research from Clerical Medical.

Winterthur Life is planning to run a series of workshops to bring IFAs up to date with the latest industry developments on retirement planning.

Personal accounts could lead to 80% of employer pension schemes reducing their contributions for new employees and those not yet in their existing scheme.

The government may not have the option of withdrawing a person's right to hold an alternatively-secured pension as doing so could risk prosecution for religious discrimination.

A default annuity option could be added to personal accounts as the government is switching its focus onto the decumulation phase of the retirement income system.

Mike Douglas has taken up a new role at Scottish Equitable as managing director of its annuities operation.

The Association of Consulting Actuaries says its members favour a scheme-specific method of calculating pension transfer values, ignoring the option developed by the Actuarial Profession.