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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Pension Scams
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Tulfes
Shipmate
# 18000
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Posted
22 June, 2015 12:38
The new UK pension "freedom" seem to have resulted in an outbreak of pension scams.
Predictable but very disappointing nevertheless. A cohort of people (over 55s with pension savings) get access to big lump sums and inevitably the criminals and fraudsters are circling.
According to The Herald today, organised crime are recruiting specialists with knowledge of the pension industry to give themselves a veneer of respectability in order to con the greedy
/unwary/naive out of their pension savings.
If it's too good to be true, then it probably is.
Anyone telling you that you can unlock your pension savings before age 55 without incurring penal taxation is lying.
My question. The people ripe to be conned are (mostly) over 55 and (usually) more than averagely savvy and prudent financially (otherwise they wouldn't have pension savings worth being conned out of). The new pension freedom is supposed to treat them as responsible enough to look after their own future. How much should the state be expected to do to make sure that they don't fall victim to pension fraudsters?
Posts: 175 | Registered: Feb 2014
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L'organist
Shipmate
# 17338
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Posted
22 June, 2015 16:54
Moot point just how 'savvy' people really are.
Not age, nor education, nor life experience gives any guarantee that people can't/won't be conned. Look at the otherwise sensible women who 'lend' thousands of pounds to men who aren't even particularly attractive.
Most of us like the idea of something for nothing or, at the very least, for very little - after all that is why we buy raffle and lottery tickets.
The argument used to bring in the relaxation over access to pension funds was that a 'nanny state' should trust its citizens with their own assets: this was particularly attractive given the poor annuity rates on offer and the ongoing impact on pension funds of Gordon Brown's so-called raid on pension fund dividend income.
And it could be a backdoor way of trying to encourage Joe Public to invest in the stockmarket - although its no more likely to succeed in that endeavour than every other attempt.
Fact is, the biggest con being carried out daily in the UK is the massive charges being incurred by pension funds through unnecessary churning of investments by so-called managers.
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Rara temporum felicitate ubi sentire quae velis et quae sentias dicere licet
Posts: 4950 | From: somewhere in England... | Registered: Sep 2012
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Adeodatus
Shipmate
# 4992
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Posted
22 June, 2015 23:23
When these pension reforms were announced in 2014, George Osborne promised access to "free, impartial, face-to-face" advice for anyone accessing their pension fund. If that's happened, then it wasn't announced with a bang, or even a whisper.
[ 22. June 2015, 22:23: Message edited by: Adeodatus ]
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"What is broken, repair with gold."
Posts: 9779 | From: Manchester | Registered: Sep 2003
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betjemaniac
Shipmate
# 17618
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Posted
23 June, 2015 11:17
quote:
Originally posted by Adeodatus:
When these pension reforms were announced in 2014, George Osborne promised access to "free, impartial, face-to-face" advice for anyone accessing their pension fund. If that's happened, then it wasn't announced with a bang, or even a whisper.
It certainly has, and it certainly was. The Guidance Guarantee was fully implemented at exactly the same time (funded by a levy on the providers and the IFA industry), and no one is allowed to do anything without getting guidance.
So all the people taking all their money and buying Ferraris (or whatever) have indeed had to sit down with someone impartial and have the consequences explained to them before doing so. I think all that proves is that some people are in fact that silly.
Consequently if you find yourself in that position you'll see why it didn't need to be announced with either a bang or a whisper. No sit down with free, impartial face to face adviser, no get money.
[ 23. June 2015, 10:19: Message edited by: betjemaniac ]
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And is it true? For if it is....
Posts: 1481 | From: behind the dreaming spires | Registered: Mar 2013
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betjemaniac
Shipmate
# 17618
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Posted
23 June, 2015 11:57
quote:
Originally posted by betjemaniac:
quote:
Originally posted by Adeodatus:
When these pension reforms were announced in 2014, George Osborne promised access to "free, impartial, face-to-face" advice for anyone accessing their pension fund. If that's happened, then it wasn't announced with a bang, or even a whisper.
It certainly has, and it certainly was. The Guidance Guarantee was fully implemented at exactly the same time (funded by a levy on the providers and the IFA industry), and no one is allowed to do anything without getting guidance.
So all the people taking all their money and buying Ferraris (or whatever) have indeed had to sit down with someone impartial and have the consequences explained to them before doing so. I think all that proves is that some people are in fact that silly.
Consequently if you find yourself in that position you'll see why it didn't need to be announced with either a bang or a whisper. No sit down with free, impartial face to face adviser, no get money.
sources for above (and I pity the poor moderators who now have to check through the legalese but the first is the FCA and the second HM Treasury so presumably they're above board....):
FCA
Treasury
to clarify, you don't have to do it face to face if you don't want, but it's there as an option. The upshot is no one can take their money without someone impartial talking them through the risks and checking understanding of the same. For free.
This was all covered quite extensively at the time, although the headlines of the popular press reports focused on the Ferrari aspect of things, rather than the duller "by the way these are the checks and balances" side. Funny that.
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And is it true? For if it is....
Posts: 1481 | From: behind the dreaming spires | Registered: Mar 2013
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
23 June, 2015 12:27
My reading of the FCA booklet is that the firms themselves must issue Risk Warnings. They must tell consumers about Pension Wise, but I don't think there is any requirement for mandatory, independent advice.
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"He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
(Paul Sinha, BBC)
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
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