Rigger
Moderator
What are your views on the latest Government decision on Pensions I have been in various schemes over my working life both private and government backed.
I am left now a couple of years before my official retirement age with no private pension to draw on. Having being talked into by various companies to join their schemes none of them lived up to the projections they gave me at the time. True I withdrew from all of the pension plans but the amounts of money that they required to service them was a very large amount compared to the return I would receive on maturity.
I decided in the early 80s to buy a couple of houses, in addition to my main home, with the help of a Building Society I purchased on mortgage and rented them out. This was not as simple or straightforward as it sounds. But at the end of the day I am in control of my assets and could have realised them at any given point. I am in fact in the process of selling one of the houses. The overall return even with the depressed housing market and the costs incurred over the years, maintenance, taxes, will be far greater than any pension scheme I have come across.
Do you think this is another cynical plan to raise more tax revenues from the employee and employers??
Or a determined effort to give workers a decent pension on retirement
___________________________________________________________________________
27 October 2010 Last updated at 11:33 Source BBC News Website
“All firms must offer pensions, government agrees
No business will be too small to offer a pension to its workers
The government has agreed that all UK businesses, regardless of size, should offer a company pension scheme or enrol their staff into the new National Employment Savings Trust (Nest).
Nest is due to start in 2012, with all firms joining by September 2016.
The government says it will mean that between four million and eight million workers will start to save in a pension scheme for the first time.
To be eligible, staff will have to earn at least £7,475 a year.
The latest decisions on the form of Nest come after the publication of the recommendations of an independent review into the automatic enrolment of workers.
The findings of the review were welcomed by Pensions Minister Steve Webb.
"The National Employment Savings Trust (Nest) will be the new low-cost pension scheme that will be the vehicle for saving for millions," he said.
"For the first time, employers will have to make pension contributions for eligible workers from 2012, ending decades of decline of membership in workplace pension schemes," he added.
Pensions for all?
The principle of automatic enrolment of employees into pension schemes was established in the Pensions Act (2008), which set out reforms designed to make saving for retirement the norm among employees.
The key feature was that all employers should provide an adequate pension scheme for their eligible employees.
Typically, that means staff who are aged 22 or more and currently earning more than £7,475 a year - the personal allowance for income tax.
If such a scheme is not provided, then the staff will have to be automatically enrolled in Nest instead.
Employers and employees will also have to make a minimum level of contributions, eventually amounting to 8% of income a year.
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said it was disappointed.
“The proposed changes are still complicated for micro businesses to put in place”
"The cost and time spent on administrative work will damage micro firms - those with 10 employees or less." Said Mike Cherry of the FSB.
Temporary staff
Employers will be given three months' grace to enrol their staff in either their own scheme - with compulsory minimum employer contributions - or enrol them in Nest instead.
This element was welcomed by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC).
"Thanks to the 12-week exemption, companies with a high turnover of staff or a large number of seasonal workers will not have to spend a lot of time and money enrolling employees into pensions that they do not intend to continue," said Dr Adam Marshall of the BCC.
The report says if a member of staff chooses to sign up before the three-month period elapses, companies will be forced to make contributions then as well.
The aim is to make sure people who often change jobs can build up a pension pot for their retirement.
Phased in
Nest is due to start next year, with automatic enrolment starting in October 2012, with the largest employers joining first and the smallest joining by September 2016.
Contributions from staff and employers will also be phased in.
Until October 2016, the minimum overall level of contributions will be just 2%, with 1% coming from employers.
From October 2016 to September 2017, total contributions will be 5% with 2% coming from employers.
And from October 2017, the total minimum contribution level will be 8%, with employers contributing at least 3%.”
I am left now a couple of years before my official retirement age with no private pension to draw on. Having being talked into by various companies to join their schemes none of them lived up to the projections they gave me at the time. True I withdrew from all of the pension plans but the amounts of money that they required to service them was a very large amount compared to the return I would receive on maturity.
I decided in the early 80s to buy a couple of houses, in addition to my main home, with the help of a Building Society I purchased on mortgage and rented them out. This was not as simple or straightforward as it sounds. But at the end of the day I am in control of my assets and could have realised them at any given point. I am in fact in the process of selling one of the houses. The overall return even with the depressed housing market and the costs incurred over the years, maintenance, taxes, will be far greater than any pension scheme I have come across.
Do you think this is another cynical plan to raise more tax revenues from the employee and employers??
Or a determined effort to give workers a decent pension on retirement
___________________________________________________________________________
27 October 2010 Last updated at 11:33 Source BBC News Website
“All firms must offer pensions, government agrees
No business will be too small to offer a pension to its workers
The government has agreed that all UK businesses, regardless of size, should offer a company pension scheme or enrol their staff into the new National Employment Savings Trust (Nest).
Nest is due to start in 2012, with all firms joining by September 2016.
The government says it will mean that between four million and eight million workers will start to save in a pension scheme for the first time.
To be eligible, staff will have to earn at least £7,475 a year.
The latest decisions on the form of Nest come after the publication of the recommendations of an independent review into the automatic enrolment of workers.
The findings of the review were welcomed by Pensions Minister Steve Webb.
"The National Employment Savings Trust (Nest) will be the new low-cost pension scheme that will be the vehicle for saving for millions," he said.
"For the first time, employers will have to make pension contributions for eligible workers from 2012, ending decades of decline of membership in workplace pension schemes," he added.
Pensions for all?
The principle of automatic enrolment of employees into pension schemes was established in the Pensions Act (2008), which set out reforms designed to make saving for retirement the norm among employees.
The key feature was that all employers should provide an adequate pension scheme for their eligible employees.
Typically, that means staff who are aged 22 or more and currently earning more than £7,475 a year - the personal allowance for income tax.
If such a scheme is not provided, then the staff will have to be automatically enrolled in Nest instead.
Employers and employees will also have to make a minimum level of contributions, eventually amounting to 8% of income a year.
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said it was disappointed.
“The proposed changes are still complicated for micro businesses to put in place”
"The cost and time spent on administrative work will damage micro firms - those with 10 employees or less." Said Mike Cherry of the FSB.
Temporary staff
Employers will be given three months' grace to enrol their staff in either their own scheme - with compulsory minimum employer contributions - or enrol them in Nest instead.
This element was welcomed by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC).
"Thanks to the 12-week exemption, companies with a high turnover of staff or a large number of seasonal workers will not have to spend a lot of time and money enrolling employees into pensions that they do not intend to continue," said Dr Adam Marshall of the BCC.
The report says if a member of staff chooses to sign up before the three-month period elapses, companies will be forced to make contributions then as well.
The aim is to make sure people who often change jobs can build up a pension pot for their retirement.
Phased in
Nest is due to start next year, with automatic enrolment starting in October 2012, with the largest employers joining first and the smallest joining by September 2016.
Contributions from staff and employers will also be phased in.
Until October 2016, the minimum overall level of contributions will be just 2%, with 1% coming from employers.
From October 2016 to September 2017, total contributions will be 5% with 2% coming from employers.
And from October 2017, the total minimum contribution level will be 8%, with employers contributing at least 3%.”
(scaffs shouldn't be trusted with cash either