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| There may be trouble ahead... retirement pensions will increasingly become unaffordable in the coming years, whether it's the state retirement pension or company and private pension schemes |
It's Friday. It's financial. It's Friday Financial with JULIAN SAYER.
It's official. The UK state pension
is worst in Europe.
It's been a busy two weeks looking
after my six year old during the Easter holidays, but that's the conundrum of
modern life. One of my pet hates is the lack of time modern life gives you;
investing your most precious commodity (time) into the teaching of your
greatest asset (your children.) So I am afraid this week's blog will be a short
piece.
How a society looks after it's
young, old and most disadvantaged says everything about it. This Government's
continued attack on the most disadvantaged continues relentlessly. The poor,
unemployed, handicapped, young and old are all suffering with reduced income,
while the rich and multinationals continue to flout the tax laws stashing trillions
of pounds in off shore tax heavens. This week I want to take a look at what's
happening in the pensions industry, how it's affecting the pensioners now and
how it will affect you when you retire in the future.
Having worked in the
industry for twenty odd years,
one thing I know for sure, is that this Government will continue to reduce the
amount of pension you are going to receive in the future. Everything points
towards it, an ageing population, reduced tax revenues, low employment levels,
and longer life expectancy. In the UK we were once the envy of the world with
our well run state and private pension schemes, and those lucky enough to have
worked in the "golden generation" have reaped the rewards and are
enjoying the benefits of these schemes. Sadly, just like our other world
renowned institutions like the NHS and Railways, our pension system will be run
down and hived off for the profit of the few, and to the detriment of the many.
