Automatic enrolment in workplace pensions and the National Employment Savings Trust

Automatic enrolment in workplace pensions and the National Employment Savings Trust PDF Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Work and Pensions Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215042972
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 238

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Book Description
The Government established NEST as a low-cost pension scheme to help deliver the auto-enrolment programme and to address a market failure in the pensions industry which meant that many employers and employees were unable to access low-cost, good quality pension provision. However, the Committee believes that certain restrictions placed on NEST will create complexity for employers and will disadvantage some employees. The Committee's report recommends that, if state aid rules allow, the Government should remove the following restrictions: the cap on the annual contributions an individual can make to a NEST scheme; and the ban on individuals transferring existing pension pots into NEST. The Committee further urges the Government to proceed with its plans for State Pension reform, introducing a flat-rate State Pension and reducing the level of means-testing without delay. The report also highlights the difficulties and complexity employers and employees currently face in comparing the fees and charges applied by pension providers and recommends that, from 2013 onwards, if some auto-enrolment schemes still have hidden charges, or charges that represent poor value for money, the Government should use its powers to intervene. Auto-enrolment will impose new costs and may be particularly challenging for small employers however the Committee considers that the Government has taken appropriate steps to minimise the impact on businesses through its gradual and flexible approach ("staging and phasing") to implementation. Exempting small employers would create significant complexity, as well as excluding many employees from the benefits of workplace pension saving

Automatic enrolment in workplace pensions and the National Employment Savings Trust

Automatic enrolment in workplace pensions and the National Employment Savings Trust PDF Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Work and Pensions Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215042972
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 238

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Government established NEST as a low-cost pension scheme to help deliver the auto-enrolment programme and to address a market failure in the pensions industry which meant that many employers and employees were unable to access low-cost, good quality pension provision. However, the Committee believes that certain restrictions placed on NEST will create complexity for employers and will disadvantage some employees. The Committee's report recommends that, if state aid rules allow, the Government should remove the following restrictions: the cap on the annual contributions an individual can make to a NEST scheme; and the ban on individuals transferring existing pension pots into NEST. The Committee further urges the Government to proceed with its plans for State Pension reform, introducing a flat-rate State Pension and reducing the level of means-testing without delay. The report also highlights the difficulties and complexity employers and employees currently face in comparing the fees and charges applied by pension providers and recommends that, from 2013 onwards, if some auto-enrolment schemes still have hidden charges, or charges that represent poor value for money, the Government should use its powers to intervene. Auto-enrolment will impose new costs and may be particularly challenging for small employers however the Committee considers that the Government has taken appropriate steps to minimise the impact on businesses through its gradual and flexible approach ("staging and phasing") to implementation. Exempting small employers would create significant complexity, as well as excluding many employees from the benefits of workplace pension saving

Making automatic enrolment work

Making automatic enrolment work PDF Author: Great Britain: Department for Work and Pensions
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780101795425
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 214

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Book Description
Current policy is that new duties will be staged in between 2012 and 2016, requiring all employers to designate a pension scheme into which all of their employees, aged between 22 and state pension age, should be automatically enrolled, so long as they are earning above an annual earnings threshold (the Pensions Act 2008 sets this at £5,035, equivalent to £5,732 in today's terms). Upon automatic enrolment, a minimum of eight per cent of earnings within a band would be contributed to the pension, with at least three per cent coming from the employer. This policy is designed to maximise private pension saving by individuals without imposing compulsion. The right to opt out will remain. This review looks at the scope of automatic enrolment and whether a new national pension scheme (National Employment Savings Trust or NEST) needs to be put in place for it to work. One of the most significant recommendations that it makes is that people should only be automatically enrolled once they reach the income tax threshold (which will increase to £7.475 in 2011) but that contributions should be on earnings in excess of the National Insurance earnings threshold (£5,715 in today's prices). There should be no changes to age thresholds and automatic enrolment duties should apply to all employers, regardless of size, as now. Employers should be given three months before auto-enrolment to ease the burden on companies. If staff choose to enrol before the three month period then companies will have to make contributions

Governance and Best Practice in Workplace Pension Provision

Governance and Best Practice in Workplace Pension Provision PDF Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Work and Pensions Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215054128
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description


Progress and Challenges of Nonfinancial Defined Contribution Pension Schemes

Progress and Challenges of Nonfinancial Defined Contribution Pension Schemes PDF Author: Robert Holzmann
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464814562
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 463

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Book Description
The individual account-based but unfunded approach to mandated public pension systems is a reform benchmark for all pension schemes, promising fair and financially sustainable benefits. Nonfinancial defined contribution (NDC) pension schemes originated in Italy and Sweden in the 1990s, were then adopted by Latvia, Norway, and Poland, envisaged but not implemented in various other countries, such as Egypt and Russia, and remain under discussion in many nations around the world, such as China and France. In its complete form, the approach also comprises budget-financed basic income provisions and mandated or voluntary funded provisions.Volume 1 of this book offers an assessment of countries that were early adopters before addressing key aspects of policy implementation and design review, including how best to combine basic income provisions with an NDC scheme, how to deal with heterogeneity in longevity, and how to adjust NDC scheme design and labor market policies to deliver on reform expectations. Volume 2 addresses a second set of issues, including the gender pension gap and what family policies can do about it within the NDC framework, labor market issues and administrative challenges of NDC schemes and how countries are coping, the role of communication in these pension schemes, the complexity of cross-border pension taxation, and much more.Progress and Challenges of Nonfinancial Defined Contribution Pension Schemes is the third in a series of books analyzing the progress, challenges, and adjustment options of this reform revolution for mandated public pension systems.'Pension reform is a major issue in many countries. The development of the nonfinancial defined contribution pension plan in the 90's was a major advance in pension design. By reporting actual country experiences and exploring properties of plan designs, this latest collection of essays is a valuable contribution, well worth reading.' Peter DiamondProfessor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology; 2010 winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences 'A highly stimulating publication for policy makers and researchers alike. It pushes the analytical frontier for policy challenges that all public pension schemes are confronted with but that the nonfinancial defined contribution approach promises to handle best.' Noriyuki TakayamaPresident, Research Institute for Policies on Pension and Aging, Tokyo, and professor emeritus, Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo 'In a changing world where pensions are more than ever linked to labor markets, communication tools, and flexibility considerations, this anthology provides a unique up-to-date analysis of nonfinancial defined contribution pension schemes. By mixing international experiences and theoretical studies, it demonstrates the high adaptability of such pension schemes to changing social challenges.' Pierre DevolderProfessor of Finance and Actuarial Sciences, Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium

Reconstructing Retirement

Reconstructing Retirement PDF Author: David Lain
Publisher: Policy Press
ISBN: 1447326199
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
In the United Kingdom, retirement programs are being reconstructed to follow the American practice of abolishing mandatory retirement and increasing state pension ages. This timely book compares prospects for work and retirement at age sixty five-plus in both the United States and the United Kingdom. After exploring the shifting logic behind both nations' policies--policies that increase both the need and opportunities to work past age sixty five--David Lain presents an original comparative statistical analysis on the wide range of factors influencing employment at this age, from the ability to move between jobs in order to remain employed to changing employment trends. He then proposes a series of policies to address these factors across the life-course and promote security and autonomy for older people. Pathways to employment after sixty five are complex, and pressures to work at this age are likely to result in very unequal outcomes. This book will play a vital role in creating a more positive, more equitable future for late careers and retirement.

The Political Economy of Pension Financialisation

The Political Economy of Pension Financialisation PDF Author: Anke Hassel
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000710998
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
The Political Economy of Pension Financialisation addresses – for numerous countries – how and why pension reforms have come to rely more on financial markets, how public policy reacted to financial crises, and regulatory variation. The book demonstrates how the process of pension financialisation reveals that pension policy is not only a social policy that affects retirement income, but also a financial policy that impacts savings rates, corporate finance and the economy. The chapters shed light on pre-funded private pensions as one key component of financialisation, as they turn savings into investments via financial services providers. Readers will also see how pension financialisation and the broader financialisation of the economy are here to stay, despite negative developments during and after the financial crisis. A systematic and comparative overwiew of the financialisation of pensions, The Political Economy of Pension Financialisation is ideal for scholars and postgradues working on Political Economy, Public Policy and Finance. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of European Public Policy.

Improving Governance and Best Practice in Workplace Pensions

Improving Governance and Best Practice in Workplace Pensions PDF Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Work and Pensions Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215056979
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 64

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Book Description
The introduction of auto-enrolment makes rigorous pension scheme governance essential. This Report calls on the Government to reassess the case for establishing one body with sole responsibility for regulating workplace pensions. There are concerns over current gaps in regulation and the potential for further gaps to arise as a result of now having three regulators, the Pensions Regulator; and the new Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority, set up to replace the FSA. The Report argues that a single regulator is necessary to ensure that all members of workplace pension schemes are adequately and consistently protected. It also highlights that deferred-member charges and member-borne consultancy charges have the potential to cause serious consumer detriment. It recommends that both are banned by the Government, if significant progress is not made in the very near future by the industry towards ending them. There is particular concern about member-borne consultancy charges and those charges applied to deferred members - people who stop contributing to their pension scheme. The trend towards lower pension scheme charges is welcome. However, a good average is not sufficient and there is potential for consumer detriment in schemes that persist in retaining high charges. The Government should also regularly review its policy on capping charges for auto-enrolment schemes. Consumers are also continuing to lose out when they buy annuities because pension providers are not doing enough to ensure people are aware that they can shop around for the best annuity rate rather than being obliged to buy an annuity from their pension provider.

Sessional Returns

Sessional Returns PDF Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215048387
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 442

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Book Description
On cover and title page: House, committees of the whole House, general committees and select committees

Pensions at a Glance 2015 OECD and G20 indicators

Pensions at a Glance 2015 OECD and G20 indicators PDF Author: OECD
Publisher: OECD Publishing
ISBN: 9264244441
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 378

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Book Description
The 10-year anniversary edition of Pensions at a Glance highlights the pension reforms undertaken by OECD and G20 countries over the last two years. Two special chapters provide deeper analysis of first-tier pension schemes and of the impact of short or interrupted careers, due to late entry ...

The Financial Times Guide to Business Start Up 2016

The Financial Times Guide to Business Start Up 2016 PDF Author: Sara Williams
Publisher: Pearson UK
ISBN: 1292104759
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 470

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Book Description
Whether you’re about to start your own business or have already taken the plunge and want to keep everything on track, make sure you have a copy of the No.1 bestselling The Financial Times Guide to Business Start Up on your shelf. Annually updated, this guide takes you through every important aspect of starting and running a business, including developing your idea and getting financial backing, building customer relationships, developing your online presence and much more.