New State Pension arrangements

Apart from the State pension I have always considered private pensions to be a rip off. Many years ago I had a with profits one with an insurance company and by the time they 'evened it out' with  new policy holders it was shrinking year on year. I just wish a stocks and shares ISA had been available then, as it is today, so that all it earned was mine and not frittered away on newcomers. I have never liked insurance companies ever since.

They are not a rip off but you have to understand exactly what you are signing up for then monitor the performance of the underlying investments very carefully.

Not everyone has the time or inclination but if leaving it all to a company, do watch the charges.

They just love clients who leave it all to them.

Its a great shame that most of the final salary pensions are now consigned to history.I was fortunate to work for a company that operated one and even though the company does,nt exist anymore the scheme is still going strong.

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Apart from the State pension I have always considered private pensions to be a rip off. Many years ago I had a with profits one with an insurance company and by the time they 'evened it out' with  new policy holders it was shrinking year on year. I just wish a stocks and shares ISA had been available then, as it is today, so that all it earned was mine and not frittered away on newcomers. I have never liked insurance companies ever since.

 Yes agree, a similar thing happen to me . my problem I trusted the insurance company,  as I wasn't, and still aren't private pension literate. 

Very true, Fysherman.

Defined Contributions pension schemes (the type that most people outside of government and council employment are now in) are simply investments into funds. Most of those funds invest in shares.

People are sometimes told a fund to start with and then simply leave their pension in that fund until they cash it in. There is no incentive for the fund to do its best for you and there is certainly no incentive for the pension provider to advise you - they are getting their commission (from every one of your monthly payments) whatever happens.

A good pensions adviser will (at least) carry out regular reviews and will suggest when and where to move your investment. When the stock market takes a plunge, they will hopefully have told you to move it to a deposit based fund, or similar. And vice versa.

It is rare for people to get this sort of advice.

Apart from the State pension I have always considered private pensions to be a rip off. Many years ago I had a with profits one with an insurance company and by the time they 'evened it out' with  new policy holders it was shrinking year on year. I just wish a stocks and shares ISA had been available then, as it is today, so that all it earned was mine and not frittered away on newcomers. I have never liked insurance companies ever since.

Write your comments here...A rip off? Maybe RF but when, and I hate to say this as I don't want the thread to be closed but it has to be said, a certain chancellor of the Labour Party stole billions of pounds from the private pension funds, we were all ripped off leaving people like me who had saved like hell a shadow of the former promises. I note though that HE was able to retire on a 'golden pension' My contempt knows no bounds!! 

Ahh but Merve......you have to remember that the the 'certain chancellor', to off-set his plundering, also de-regulated the financial markets. This cunning plan was intended to off-set the massively higher taxes by allowing pension funds to make more money in this new world without rules.

And of course, we all know how well the financial markets performed shortly after that, don't we?

Yes, but can we stick to the State pension bit....

Ian, yes we do. There is a massive crash coming and dont forget that 'chancellor' not only sold a huge chunk of our gold but also announced when he was going to do it! Can you believe such incompetence ? I mention it because you can't ignore history and all these factors are now affecting us- new state pension arrangements or not! My advice? Buy gold! Back in thread!