Retirement

Dunstan Thomas has published a business guide for pensions advisers wanting to take advantage of the A-Day and Regulation Day changes.

Nine out of ten IFAs (88pc) believe increasing numbers of people will be unable to retire when they wish and retirement ages will rise significantly over the next ten year, according to Aegon's IFA Insights Research.

A £3,000 contribution cap on personal accounts would be sufficient for most low earners - including the self-employed - to achieve a replacement rate in retirement of two-thirds of their final salary.

The Department for Work and Pensions and the Trades Union Congress has teamed up to launch a network of ‘Pensions Champions' to deliver information and advice to workplaces across the country.

In usual ‘dance of the seven veils' style, the Government is slowly teasing us with glimpses of what the personal accounts scheme will look like.

Protected rights will be allowed to be self-invested as a Government amendment to the Pensions Bill means all restrictions will be removed apart from the requirement to purchase a spouses pension.

Pension campaigners have expressed their delight at the House of Lords support for the establishment of a pension protection lifeboat fund.

The House of Lords has thrown down a test for Gordon Brown by passing a cross-party amendment to the Pensions Bill which would create a ‘lifeboat fund' for victims of occupational pension scheme wind-ups.

The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has launched the ‘Protecting People's Pensions' initiative targeted at members of work based pension schemes.

Ministers are being urged to clarify the Government's current thinking on the advice regime that will accompany personal accounts.