personal accounts

Personal accounts will go ahead with means-testing in place as there is no viable alternative, claims the government.

James Purnell, Minister for Pensions Reform, has revealed the "frankly scary numbers" in a retirement survey carried out by Which? support the case for personal accounts.

The design of the default fund should be the most important focus for personal accounts, according to experts, as 94% of members in defined contribution schemes left their money in the default fund last year despite an increase in fund choices.

Government assumptions about the costs of personal accounts could be incorrect if they have been developed from ‘over-optimistic' figures and modelling, warns the Association of British Insurers (ABI).

Industry bodies have expressed their concerns over the problems introducing auto-enrolment in 2012 will have on group personal pensions.

Plans to raise the contribution cap on personal accounts to £5,000 will mean the decision to remove regulated advice could not be "sustainable", warns the Investment Management Association (IMA).

The government is planning to hold a seminar on the issue of means-testing and personal accounts at the end of the month.

The Pensions Regulator should not try to take on the role of an economic regulator by looking at the issue of charges in the regulation of defined contribution schemes, warns Standard Life.

Only having one default fund for personal accounts could leave the government open to the risk of being blamed when things go wrong, warns pension experts.

It will not be "inappropriate" to use taxpayers' money for the development of personal accounts policy, says James Purnell, Minister for Pensions Reform.