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Concerns over pension reforms.

New pension laws come into force this April and concerns are growing that, as a result of the reforms, pensioners may run out of money.

The reforms allow those over the age of 55 to withdraw as much money as they like from a defined contribution pension scheme.

The fear is that, in so doing, they will spend the money that would have ordinarily been paid by an annuity on a monthly basis, whilst the government highlight that everyone is eligible for free advice to ensure people understand the need to plan for the future, the concern is that the attraction of taking the money in advance without long term planning could prove problematical in the future.

The biggest positive we can see from the reforms, is the freedom in not having to buy an annuity, which are not always very favourable, unless you are an insurance company that is!

For example, the best rates at the moment for an annuity for a single person age 55 with a fund of £100,000 after taking the cash lump sum (full fund £133,333) is £4746 per annum fixed, it's easy to see why taking that cash may prove attractive.

Age concern has issued a discussion paper asking pension providers to develop tools to help those at retirement age understand how to manage their funds long term; they have also highlighted the excessive administration charges levied on pension funds.

The changes maybe a good thing, and similar systems have been in place in different parts of the world for years, giving people the freedom to do what they like with their money is logical and fair, however the infrastructure does need to be in place to ensure any choices made are informed, the possibility of people running out of money is a real one, its both possible and probable but the benefits of the new system outweigh the pitfalls.

Our concerns are that pensioners with £100's of £1000's at their disposal either to spend or to invest will no doubt have plenty of advisers waiting to help, we would urge anyone in this position to receive one or two opinions as to where to invest before making any decision.


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