June 8, 2011

The Ostrich Surveys

Filed under: Blog — Grove @ 3:07 pm

Surveys seem to be like buses you know. You don’t see one for a few months and then two come along at once. In the last week, the bus depots of HSBC and Scottish Widows have both released surveys of public preparedness for retirement. Well, with auto-enrolment just around the corner now, it’s a topical subject. (more…)

June 6, 2011

Who killed DB? Is it really dead?

Filed under: Blog — Grove @ 4:05 pm

If you watched the hit TV series Dallas in the early 80′s, you’ll know that the lead character JR Ewing was shot by his sister-in-law at the end of one series. Stories of JR’s demise were premature though. At the end of the next series it was revealed that the intervening period and the shooting of JR had, in fact, been just a dream. Priceless.

If you’ve been following government pension policy over the years and in particular the cold hearted killing of the Defined Benefit (DB) approach that served us so well, you’d be forgiven for wondering if the Dallas script writers were involved. (more…)

Enhanced Transfer Values caught in a Webb

Filed under: Blog — Grove @ 9:12 am

I have to confess to complete amazement at recent comments made by our Pensions Minister, Steve Webb. Here’s what he’s quoted as having said; (more…)

May 6, 2011

Longevity and the defence of the Monarchy

Filed under: Blog — Grove @ 3:36 pm

The DWP published some fascinating statistics in April in a document called ‘Number of Future Centenarians by Age Group’. A number of national newspapers noticed and carried articles trumpeting the news that more than 10 million of us are now expected to live to the age of 100. Wow!

There was also a big wedding in April. You may have seen it. The Prince married his Princess and prophecies of the patter of tiny royal feet abound. (more…)

Managing without the Default Retirement Age

Filed under: Blog — Grove @ 3:35 pm

Deborah Moon, HR Consultant, considers the key aspects and implications of this change, and the actions employers should be taking as we move into an era of managing without the DRA.

A number of employment law changes took place at the beginning of April, the most significant of which was probably the implementation of the Regulations ending the default retirement age (DRA). The DRA had enabled employers to compulsorily retire an employee at age 65 provided they followed the statutory retirement procedure.

The abolition of the DRA will essentially leave employers with two options for the future: (more…)

Time to take pensions seriously

Filed under: Blog — Grove @ 3:32 pm

As discussed in Deborah Moons blog this month (see Managing without the Default Retirement Age), the removal of the Default Retirement Age (DRA) is a call to action for employers. Workers now have the choice of continuing to work on, well beyond what used to be regarded as ‘Normal Retirement Age’ and personnel and pensions policy need to be reviewed as a consequence.

As if by magic, duties will soon fall upon employers to automatically enrol all workers into a workplace pension scheme.

These two strands are inextricably linked. (more…)

April 6, 2011

People who need people

Filed under: Blog — Grove @ 12:15 pm

I realised this morning that I’m just starting my 31st year working with company pension schemes! Crikey.

If pensions aren’t your thing, or if you have the perception as many do, that they’re overly technical and just a little bit dull, you might wonder how I’ve managed to stay interested for so long?

Well, I’ve given it some thought but actually, not much was needed. The reason I’m still here is that, when you get beneath the acronyms, jargon, technical and regulatory complexity, company pension schemes are about people, plain and simple. They’re about; (more…)

March 29, 2011

Auto-enrolment: The support you need

Filed under: Blog — Grove @ 3:24 pm

In case you don’t know yet, major pension reforms are due to take effect from October 2012. They will mean that on a date between I October 2012 and 1 September 2016, you will have to: (more…)

Pensions in the Budget

Filed under: Blog — Grove @ 3:16 pm

In case you missed it, there was a budget last week and, surprise surprise, most of the pensions content just confirmed decisions that we already knew about. Phew! Mind you, there was a sting in the tail. Isn’t there always?

Here’s a summary of the key pensions bits of this year budget: (more…)

Trustee Knowledge and Understanding (TKU)

Filed under: Blog — Grove @ 3:08 pm

As promised in January, the latest TKU bulletin from CMS Cameron McKenna is now available. This quarter, the bulletin covers: (more…)

Older Posts »