MGM Advantage – ‘Our Retirement Nation’ report
SOCIETY UNDERVALUES RETIRED POPULATION

A new report reveals that the UK’s ‘Retirement Nation, which includes all retired people, saves the state and society at least £25 billion a year through unpaid care, community and voluntary work. But the report, ‘Our Retirement Nation’, which was commissioned by MGM Advantage, warns that the contribution made by this part of society is not fully recognised and that the government and society as a whole need to do more to understand their emotional, health and financial requirements.

MGM Advantage is calling for fundamental changes to ensure that the Retirement Nation gets the respect and support it deserves from society, the media, the financial services industry and the government. Its recommendations and key findings are:

• Respect – A change in attitude towards the Retirement Nation and greater recognition for retired people and what they contribute to the UK – only 14% of retired people feel valued by society.

• Representation – The Retirement Nation is a big part of the UK society for what they contribute (£25 billion through unpaid care, community and voluntary work), but also the help and support they need. The Retirement Nation needs a voice. MGM Advantage recommends the Government creates a Minister for Retirement.

• Education – More done to help people maximise and make the best use of their financial wealth in retirement. The first step is to help people improve their basic knowledge about retirement and finance – 31% of retired over 55s have not heard of the Open Market Option. The financial services industry, government, and media all have a role to play in achieving this.

• Simple products – Financial services and government need to continue to work together to innovate and design new retirement products that meet the needs of the Retirement Nation and are easy to understand, accessible, and offer good value – only 29% of over 55s know exactly what an annuity is.

• Ownership – People need to take ownership of their retirement planning – from building up a pension pot in their 20s and 30s to making the best retirement income decision when they retire – 54% of non-retired UK adults are not at all prepared for retirement3.

The report highlights how the UK’s Retirement Nation is collectively saving the government and society £15.4 billion a year by taking on the unpaid care of grandchildren, parents and other family members. In addition to this, retired people are undertaking voluntary work worth at least £5.6 billion a year and charitable work worth at least £3.7 billion a year.

MGM Advantage, which is a retirement income specialist, warns that the role played by this major part of society is not fully recognised. Almost a third (30%) of retired people think they are undervalued and not respected by society, while just 14% feel valued, while the balance (55%) say that they are sometimes treated badly.

Craig Fazzini-Jones, Executive Director, MGM Advantage said: “This report paints a wonderfully colourful picture of the rich diversity of the 11 million people who make up our Retirement Nation and why they deserve our respect and attention for the contribution they make to the society. However, it also portrays a worrying picture about how these people prepare for and fund their retirement and sends a clear message about our responsibility to do more to support our Retirement nation.”

With the number of retired people in the UK growing significantly, MGM Advantage says that greater consideration has to be paid to their contribution as well as demands placed on society. It also believes there should be a fundamental change to the way that retired people are treated and that more should be done to challenge the pre-conceived notion of retirement.

Update – what’s happening over there and in the Isle of Man

EIS and VCT

In the UK the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement contained few surprises, the main exception being changes in the rules affecting Enterprise Investment Schemes (‘EIS’) and their collective investment variant, the Venture Capital Trust (‘VCT’).

EIS were introduced in 1994 and VCTs in 1995, both with the intention of encouraging investment in small companies by offering tax concessions. EIS invest in single companies which satisfy certain criteria and VCTs in portfolios of qualifying businesses. Up to £500,000 can be invested annually via EIS, and £200,000 via VCTs; and both schemes offer up-front income tax relief of 30%. In addition, EIS provide exemption from capital gains tax if held for at least three years, and VCTs for five years.

The first change announced in the Chancellor’s statement is that the investment limit for EIS is to be increased to £1 million p.a.. The second is that restrictions on the size of companies in which the schemes can invest are being relaxed to include companies with assets up to £15 million and up to 250 employees.

The major surprise in the Autumn statement is that a new ‘Seed EIS’ (‘SEIS’) is to be introduced to encourage investment in start-up businesses. A major accountancy firm described as “astonishing” the fact that SEIS will provide 50% income tax relief in the tax year 2012/13 on investments up to £100,000 even if investors’ own tax rate is lower than 50%. In addition, if the investment is made from gains made from the sale of other assets in the same tax year, these gains will be exempt from capital gains tax.

As a result, every £1 invested in SEIS will cost the investor only 50p. In fact, the total relief will amount to 78% if gains are reinvested and account is taken of the 28% saving in CGT.

However, the benefits of SEIS could be outweighed by the very high risk of investing in start-ups, and the difficulty in conducting due diligence suggests that it is unlikely that SEIS will be available as a retail product. Investment is likely to be confined to entrepreneurs’ friends and families.

Pensions and tax

It had been suggested that the UK Chancellor might withdraw some of the tax benefits of pension saving, notably the availability of tax-free cash (usually 25% of the value of the fund) and higher rate tax relief on contributions. In the event these fears proved unfounded, but they serve as a reminder to higher rate taxpayers to take advantage of the current concessions while they last.

There were, however, other developments on the pensions front.
The State pension age is to be increased from 66 to 67 from 2026, eight years sooner than originally planned. This may cause some people to consider working longer or saving more, but one benefit is that retirees who have not yet accrued their maximum benefit entitlement will have a chance to top-up their National Insurance contributions. We understand this will also apply in the Isle of Man.

In the UK firms with fewer than 50 employees which do not have a comparable staff pension scheme in place will be required to introduce NEST (the National Employment Savings Trust) and the operative date had been set at April 2014. However, recognising the financial burden that compulsory contributions will place on such firms, the Government has announced that the operative date is to be deferred until May 2015. Larger employers are already instructing financial advisers to provide staff briefings and advice.

We see IOM government giving consideration to NEST or similar at some point in the next few years as pressure continues to be applied to Manx budgets and people are expected to save more for their own retirements rather than falling back on the state.

On the tax front, the annual UK capital gains tax allowance has been frozen at its present level of £10,600 for 2012/13. Finally and as an aside, we see the IOM review on the taxation of investments being a way by which the tax office may be able to apply capital gains tax in all but name. Watch this space.


Junior ISAs

In the UK, Junior ISAs have been available since November 2011, when they replaced Child Trust Funds. Family and friends can contribute up to £3,600 a year into either cash or stock and shares accounts, and from April 2013 the annual investment limit will increase in line with the consumer price index.

Accounts can be established for any UK resident under the age of 18, but no withdrawals can be made before the child’s 18th birthday, except in the case of terminal illness or death. When the age of 18 is reached, the Junior ISA will be converted automatically into an adult ISA.

Any method of encouraging children and young people to save, and being introduced to the concept of credit being the last rather than first resort, is to be welcomed. The lack of such options being available locally is something we hope government will consider.

Deferring annuity purchase

The income available to purchasers of retirement annuities has fallen by around 20% over the past three years and now stands at historically low levels. Consequently, many retirees are asking whether it would make sense to delay annuity purchase until rates might improve

There is a good chance that the yield on gilt-edged securities, which are the main influence on annuity rates, will rise from current levels in the foreseeable future. It is also a given that annuity rates will rise with increasing age, as also will the likelihood of declining health qualifying the annuitant for the improved rates available from an enhanced or impaired life annuities.

However, it’s not a one-way bet. Every year’s deferral is a year’s annuity income lost. And with every passing year, the period between payments starting and the reaper coming to call gets shorter.

The answer is likely to be different for each individual, but a good way for investors with larger pension pots to hedge their bets would be to phase annuity purchases over a number of years.

January 2012

No responsibility can be accepted for the accuracy of the information in this newsletter and no action should be taken in reliance on it without advice. Please remember that past performance is not necessarily a guide to future returns.
The value of units and the income from them may fall, as well as rise. Investors may not get back the amount originally invested.

 

The prospect of redundancy is becoming very real for more and more people, in light of worsening economic conditions and cutbacks in government and company spending.

Redundancy may occur for a number of reasons and with every redundancy comes a whole series of important decisions to make about your life, and how you (and maybe your family) will cope with losing your income.

Every redundancy is different because every person who experiences redundancy will have very different circumstances, goals and objectives. However, there are some common areas of concern that may need to be addressed.

Legal advice can ensure that you maximise the benefit of your redundancy package. Financial advice ensures that you structure your finances in the most effective way.

Proactive steps

The best planning for redundancy takes place long before the subject is even raised by your employer.

The two most valuable things you can do in anticipation of redundancy are to cut down on your expenditure and create an emergency savings fund.

Emergency fund

This will give you sufficient breathing space to assess all of your options and, if necessary, find new employment. We would recommend an emergency fund equivalent to three to six months’ typical expenditure. This money needs to remain accessible in the event of a real financial emergency but not too easy to access, in case you are tempted to dip into the fund. A high interest bank account is often a sensible home for your emergency fund.

Unemployment cover

Before you all rush off to seek such a policy, it is usually only available when attached to another plan as a ‘bolt on’ such as mortgage protection life cover and usually at outset of the policy. This needs to be done before impending redundancy or you won’t be able to make a successful claim. Such plans typically cover the monthly repayment of your mortgage and only normally last for 12 months because the insurer usually expects the claimant to have secured replacement employment during this time. Involuntary redundancy is not covered, nor is being fired. Often there is a 30 or 60 days ‘wait-period’ before paying a claim.

Redundancy payments

Assuming you have worked continuously for your employer for at least two years, you should be entitled to a redundancy payment. Statutory redundancy payment is not subject to income tax or National Insurance contributions. The amount of redundancy pay you receive will be covered in your contract of employment.

The first 30,000 of any payment on termination of a contract is tax-free as long as it is not in lieu of actual pay; eg for gardening leave.

Statutory redundancy pay

The total amount of redundancy pay you receive will depend on a number of factors, including how long you have been continuously employed, your age and your weekly pay.

In the Isle of Man the amount of a redundancy payment is one week’s gross pay for each complete year for which the employee has been continuously employed. A week’s pay is capped at a maximum of £480 a week. Refer to Isle of Man Employment Rights: a Summary which can be downloaded; http://www.gov.im/ded/employmentrights/rights.xml

Help from the state

Depending on your financial circumstances, you might qualify for help from the state when you are out of work. Your first port of call should be Job Centre, which will be able to tell you about your entitlement to payments or benefits. If you or your family/partner has over £13,000 you will not be entitled to receive the income-based component of jobseeker’s allowance.

However, you could still qualify for the contribution-based jobseeker’s allowance, assuming you have paid or been credited with class 1 national insurance contributions in the relevant tax years. This can provide up to £67.50 per week if you are aged 25 or over. It is £53.45 per week for under 25’s.

Loss of protection benefits

Redundancy often results in the loss of valuable employee benefits previously provided by your employer as part of your remuneration package. These employee benefits might include death in service and private medical insurance.

Redundancy (like any life event) should serve as a prompt to evaluate your protection requirements, identify any shortfall in cover and put in place a suitable protection arrangement.

Make sure you shop around to identify the most competitive provider as the costs vary between the most and least expensive provider of these financial products. Also make sure the cover is eligible for Isle of Man residents.

As it can take a number of weeks to underwrite some forms of financial protection, particularly if you require substantial amounts of cover or have a complicated medical history, it is worth starting this process early when the topic of redundancy is first raised by your employer. This will put you in the position where you can put the new cover on risk as soon as existing benefits come to an end, therefore preventing any time gaps in your cover.

Pensions

Depending on your age at the time redundancy occurs, retirement is likely to be a serious consideration. As this is likely to be early retirement (or at least earlier than originally planned) you will need to look carefully at affordability. After all, you are younger so your pension benefits will have had less time to accumulate and will need to last for longer.

Early retirement prompted by redundancy is a good opportunity to re-evaluate your lifestyle and the associated living costs. Your pension might produce lower benefits than originally predicted, but this is all relative. Lower pension benefits are manageable when combined with a lower cost of living.

Dealing with debt

Debt is a drag on your ability to meet your other financial objectives. The global ‘credit crunch’ has highlighted some of the risks of funding your lifestyle with unsecured debt. What starts off as cheap and easily accessible can quickly become expensive and in short supply.

There are two main types of debt – unsecured and secured.

Unsecured debt typically includes items such as credit cards, store cards, personal loans and overdrafts, is usually short-term and more expensive than secured debt.

Secured debt usually refers to your mortgage. It is secured because there is an asset (e.g. your house) guaranteeing the value of the debt.

Time for advice

As a result of the complex interplay between the different areas of your personal financial planning, it is important to seek professional independent financial advice to ensure you have considered all of your options and made the most suitable decision based on your personal circumstances.

It makes sense to seek advice at an early stage of the process as otherwise you could be in a panic to make important decisions ahead of tight deadlines that have been imposed. It can take time to request detailed information and conduct analysis ahead of providing advice to a client who is being made redundant.

Finding an adviser

The best way to find a good adviser is usually to ask your friends, family or colleagues for a recommendation or search for a local adviser online using one of the many internet search engines; e.g. www.unbiased.co.uk or www.findanadviser.org

 The author, Sharon Sutton was made redundant once……….11 years ago

sources; www.gov.im, Informed Choice Ltd – Martin Bamford’s Guide to Redundancy 2009

The Island’s inflation rate fell for the first time in almost a year last month, but as expected the relief was short-lived with an increase again in June.

The annual rate of inflation given by the Retail Price Index fell from 6.7 per cent in April to 6.3 per cent in May but went back up again in June to 6.4%.

According to figures from the Treasury, the rate has been steadily rising since late 2010.

And the data shows air travellers are facing huge hikes – fares have risen on average by almost 22 per cent, whilst sea travel has risen by just over seven per cent.

Inflation rates in Britain (our main trading partner) are at their highest among developed countries and rising, and pressure is again on the Bank of England  to raise the Base Rate of interest from its current 0.5% although the decision last month was to leave it unchanged. Can the Base Rate remain at the historic low of 0.5% much longer? 

The main problem with inflation in the Isle of Man is that most of ours is imported. We have to bring in all the fuel to power our cars, heat houses and run our power stations to say nothing of clothing, food; in fact we are net importers of just about everything.

Savers continue to have difficult choices to make about exposing some of their money to investment risk or accepting an erosion in purchasing power.

Cash is most widely known for being subject to inflation risk where over time, its purchasing power is typically eroded by the rising cost of goods and services.

Keeping your money in cash can also result in ‘shortfall risk’, which is the risk of failing to achieve your financial objectives. Over time, cash typically produces the lowest returns of any major asset class. This is the result of the relative security of cash compared to, say, company shares.

Don’t forgetCorporate risk’ which is the danger that the bank or building society looking after your cash savings will get into financial difficulties and be unable to meet their obligations. In the IOM, individual savers are protected by the Depositors Compensation Scheme (DCS) which mitigates this risk, up to a maximum limit of £50,000 per saver per institution – but not necessarily within an immediate time-frame.

“The Island’s inflation rate has fallen for the first time in almost a year.

The annual rate of inflation given by the Retail Price Index fell from 6.7 per cent in April to 6.3 per cent in May.

According to figures from the Treasury, the rate has been steadily rising since late 2010.

And the data shows air travellers are facing huge hikes – fares have risen on average by almost 22 per cent, whilst sea travel has risen by just over seven per cent.”

However don’t get too excited. Inflation rates in Britain are at their highest among developed countries and rising, and pressure is again on the Bank of England  to raise the Base Rate of interest from its current 0.5% although the decision last month was to leave it unchanged. Can the Base Rate remain at the historic low of 0.5% much longer? 

The main problem with inflation in the Isle of Man is that most of ours is imported. We have to bring in all the fuel to power our cars, heat houses and run our power stations to say nothing of clothing, food; in fact we are net importers of just about everything.

Savers continue to have difficult choices to make about exposing some of their money to investment risk or accepting an erosion in purchasing power.

Cash is most widely known for being subject to inflation risk where over time, its purchasing power is typically eroded by the rising cost of goods and services.

Keeping your money in cash can also result in ‘shortfall risk’, which is the risk of failing to achieve your financial objectives. Over time, cash typically produces the lowest returns of any major asset class. This is the result of the relative security of cash compared to, say, company shares.

Don’t forgetCorporate risk’ which is the danger that the bank or building society looking after your cash savings will get into financial difficulties and be unable to meet their obligations. In the IOM, individual savers are protected by the Depositors Compensation Scheme (DCS) which mitigates this risk, up to a maximum limit of £50,000 per saver per institution – but not necessarily within an immediate time-frame.

TLC Business Solutions and Thornton Associates, with the support of the Isle of Man Government, have arranged a series of free talks on financial planning for ordinary people.  The new series leads on from the success of their first talk on the same topic, held in November last year.

TLC is a leading Manx corporate training company and Thornton Associates is the Island’s only firm of Chartered Financial Planners.  The Managing Directors of the two companies, Sue Gee (TLC) and Sharon Sutton (Thornton Associates) first teamed up to provide a government backed seminar last year, which was met with overwhelmingly positive feedback.  Over one hundred people attended the talk, designed to encourage people on average incomes to think about the details of financial planning, and 99% of attendees who left feedback said that they had gained something useful from it and would recommend it to a friend.  One audience member said, “It was fantastic; the message was received and uncovered the steps to plan for my future – it was a great use of an hour!”

There will be a series of four talks spread throughout March and April on different subject matters, all of which will be hosted at the Claremont Hotel.  They will open for coffee and registration at 5.15pm, with the seminars starting at 5.45pm and lasting one hour.  They are supported by the Department of Economic Development and are open to anyone over the age of 18.

The first talk is on the 9th of March and will feature Sue and Sharon, covering similar ground to their previous event.  Sue commented on the talk: “It is a myth that only affluent, high net worth or rich people need to plan financially for the future; it is actually more important for those of us who have less disposal income because we need to make the money work harder for us.  If you didn’t hear about the last talk in time or couldn’t make it along, I would really encourage you to try it out – it’s free, after all.”

Feedback from the last talk suggested that there were three areas in particular that attendees wanted to hear more about: debt management, wills and pensions.  Sue and Sharon have addressed this by arranging three additional talks in this series.  The second talk is on the 16th of March and will cover the subject of wills.  Sally Bolton, Principal of Corlett Bolton and Co legal practice, will lead the seminar, which will cover areas such as what your assets are and how to manage distribution via a will.  Andrea Tabb will present the third seminar on the 22nd of March.  Andrea is the Advice Centre Manager at the Isle of Man Office of Fair Trading and will outline how to use credit while avoiding debt problems.  Finally, Sharon Sutton will provide the last talk of this series on the 6th of April, on the subject of pensions and how to get the most out of them.

Sharon commented on the new series of talks: “We were very pleased by the success of the last seminar and it is good to see the Isle of Man Government supporting further talks.  The feedback from the last event has given us the opportunity to understand more precisely the subjects that people struggle with and we have been able to tailor this series to address some common concerns in greater depth.”

To register for any of the free financial planning talks, call Janet on 664 789.

They say time heals pain and so the financial crisis of 2008 seems more and more distant.  Markets have been in a buoyant mood and recently the FTSE 100 crossed the 6000 barrier, up some 8% year to date. The cost of government borrowing, as measured by the gilts market, continues to fall with 10 year gilts yielding a miserly 2.94 %, close to the year lows.

The new UK government has nailed its colours firmly to the mast of fiscal rectitude and has spelled out the deepest cuts in public spending for a generation.  The hope is that private investment will step in as the public purse steps out. 

There are precedents; remember the early Thatcher years were characterised by severe spending cuts leading to strong growth in the mid 1980s? The early Clinton presidency also paved the way for growth in the mid 1990s by bringing Federal deficits down.

Nevertheless, there are risks. Followers of Keynes would argue that, whilst the budget should balance in the medium term, too much fiscal contraction too soon risks taking demand out of the economy while it is still weak, pushing it back into recession.

The Bank of England, put on notice by the new Chancellor, will provide more monetary stimulus if the economy slows but the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is divided on this issue with some arguing consistently for near-term interest rate rises with the prospect of rising inflation.

The pound has resumed its decline against other world currencies; clearly a weak pound remains a key plank in the UK recovery.  It is becoming evident that a Euro rate of 1.20 is just enough to provoke members of the MPC to go public in efforts to talk the pound down.  Whilst it makes our holidays more expensive, a weaker pound also makes our exports cheaper and raises overseas earnings in Sterling terms. 

Often overlooked is that of all major markets, the UK has the highest exposure to overseas earnings; optimism remains that UK international blue-chips are well placed.

Another reason to be optimistic is that valuations do continue to look good; results have generally been favourable, dividends are high and dividend growth is back on the agenda.  In fact many dividend yields are higher than their respective bond yields and underscores the fact that equity owners are being paid reasonably (compared to cash and bonds) whilst the economy gets back on its feet. This could be paving the way for some modest multiple expansion.

The “Euro” economy remains at risk from the very tight policy framework adopted by the ECB and the strength of the Euro is a significant headwind for the weaker Euro economies such as Ireland and Spain.

Elsewhere, in Emerging countries growth remains strong, although redirection of their priorities from export led growth to domestic consumption would likely help the rest of the world.  A strong indicator to watch out for would be an international agreement on global trade and a revaluation of the currencies belonging to the exporting nations; chief among these, China.

Clearly risks remain as does our view that the best way to insure assets against volatility is diversification through seeking advice from a licensed, reputable and well qualified adviser.

As Mark Twain said, ‘“History never repeats itself, at best it sometimes rhymes.”

Sharon Sutton is MD and Chartered Financial Planner at Thornton Associates Ltd who are licensed by the Financial Supervision Commission of the Isle of Man and Registered with the Insurance and Pensions Authority in respect of General Business

 

The Minister of State for Pensions, Steve Webb , recently made a Written Ministerial Statement to Parliament which announced the Government’s intention to move to using the CPI as the measure of price inflation for the purposes of regulating occupational pension schemes.

A statutory minimum requirement will continue to apply to the revaluation and indexation of pension rights.

To us at Thornton Associates (Chartered Financial Planners) if you consider that the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) has been 3.4% over the past twelve months with RPI at 5.1% with RPI including the cost of mortgage interest payments; which pensioners are not typically affected by (or shouldn’t be), it would seem to be a fairly reasonable idea. A caveat to this is that goods and services consumed by older people tend to increase in cost at a faster rate than those consumed by workers; consider the increasing price of Domiciliary Care and Nursing home fees for example.

This move might temporarily save those private sector defined benefit schemes remaining open to new members (few and far between) but overall it should reduce UK private sector pension liabilities; KPMG estimate by £100bn.

It is important for all members of affected schemes to be aware of the impact such changes will have, placing further emphasis on the importance of sound and regular financial planning from a well qualified adviser. 

Tynwald supports unified pension scheme
Published online at 21/04/2010 00:24:20

Chief Minister Tony Brown, MHK

Controversial plans for a unified public sector pension scheme have reached a significant milestone.

Tynwald voted 24-6 in favour of Chief Minister Tony Brown’s proposals, with Peter Karran, David Cannan, Bill Henderson, Bill Malarkey, Brenda Cannell and Steve Rodan objecting.

The vote means progress can now be made with, among other things, the creation of a project team to ensure the first ever Manx public service scheme is in place by April 2012.

Part of what Mr Brown said when he summed up at the end of the debate, prior to the vote included reference to their lunchtime briefing by a local independent professional Chartered Financial Planner (Sharon Sutton) who had on the whole recommended the scheme was progressed since the alternative of maintaining the status quo was not an option

posted by Sharon Sutton

By Nicholas Paler | Citywire | 08:00:00 | 13 April 2010

The majority of solicitors and accountants believe they can increase their referrals to IFAs, research from JPMorgan Asset Management (JPMAM) has found.

More than 80% of the 198 accountancy and solicitor firms surveyed said there was ‘potential to increase their level of referrals’ to advisers.

A large proportion of firms regularly recommend clients to IFAs. A total of 43% of accountants and 36% of solicitors refer clients once a month, while a further 26% and 20% respectively do so once a quarter.

In total only 10% of accountants and 3% of solicitors currently referred clients to IFAs once a year or less.

The report also said advisers are at an advantage in setting up professional connections.

JPMAM estimated there are 22,000 registered IFAs, compared with 128,000 practising solicitors and 119,000 chartered accountants. ‘The two other advice professions outnumber IFAs at least four to one – a fact that should put IFAs at an advantage in the professional connections market,’ the report says.

Sifa managing director Ian Muirhead (pictured) agreed there was an opportunity for advisers to work more closely with solicitors in particular, thanks to the upcoming Legal Services Act which comes into force next year.

‘Solicitors’ business models are too reliant on transactions, and they will need to offer more services to clients going forward, so potentially there is tremendous demand there for IFAs,’ he said.

JPMAM said solicitors and accountants prioritised chartered and certified status above all else when looking for advisers to recommend, with 96% of accountants and 94% of solicitors citing it as the most important factor when evaluating an IFA.

JPMAM also found accountants and solicitors were not keen on setting up official businesses with IFAs, with only 5% of respondents looking to establish an internal IFA business or launch a joint venture with an IFA-firm.

They are also less concerned with how advisers are remunerated, with only 40% of respondents actively seeking out a fee-based IFA when recommending them.

I love this quote;

“You give me the amount every month you won’t miss and I will give you a pension you won’t notice”

Does it motivate anyone to do anything about it that’s the point?