Pension Pots

because most people are innumerate? they don't know the government's games? let alone understand any useful economics?

or too busy?

no, it doesn't stop most of them being bluff artists...but the same applies to lawyers and plumbers...

I wouldn't pay for inferior advice and I accept there is a lot of that out there. What I pay for is for somebody else to do all the hard work, and, historically, get me returns that, on average, are about 50% better than the Stock Market achieves.

Colin Bignell

Well I would for one. Having tax relief on contributions makes a money purchase/defined contribution pension (possibly) worth doing. Otherwise it's a complete waste of time IMHO.

IMHO there's no answer[1] to the pensions problem right now.

[1] None that would be acceptable anyway outside a Sci-Fi film. You know the one.

--snip--

Our IFA (not chosen by me BTW) gives "advice" that is (and is designed to be) completely ambiguous. It uses the classic terms like "may go down as well as up" and other phrases like "manage expectations" and the like.

The truth is (IMHO) that no-one has a clue about the financial future.

ITYM "legally required to, to save the hard-of-thinking from themselves"

50% better than the market? Why isn't this guy working for a merchant bank on a salary of £1 bn or more?

Why couldn't you gain it, just by making a pension contribution?

I hate that.

It should be "may go down instead of up".

it is fairly easy to get returns above the market...

huge funds are based on market tracking...others are based on risk minimisation...

'merchant banking' is just a job...and it is very hard work...

there are all manner of jobs in the merchant banks...many of the jobs require high level skills...like business lawyers, tax experts, modellers, programmers, mathematicians etc... to get a good place, you need to be better than most of your colleagues(rivals!)...and that tends to mean burning the candle at all 5 ends...

maybe you are imagining 'traders'...many of those are just salesmen in disguise...

look up 'random walk'...traders rise and traders fall... many burn out...

To get this kind of income wouldn't he/she have to lose masses amounts of our money?

Then why do so many fail to do so?

However hard it is I don't think it justifies the huge salarys (and bonuses) that they get.

Or use some monkeys:

That is a rather interesting idea.

Do you think governments will remove tax relief, but allow you to draw a pension from a pot with tax paid at the basic rate?

So the government receives tax revenue now instead of decades in the future.

I'm sure there will be some very clever transitional arrangements!!

This is one of the possibilities that could occur if many people do withdraw their whole pot in one go.

And that is the weakness in the stances of every racing tipster and financial adviser. If he can spot winners why does he have to do it for you and me?

Why is he not a multi millionaire several times over? Could it be the old financial adage that you make real money out of other people's money rather than your own where the client carries any risk

banks make money from customers deposits. Insurance companies make money from customers premiums, unit trust operators make money from "management charges" and the premium paid on unit purchasers etc. The stockbroker takes a commission from both sales and purchasers.

None of these charges can go down as well as up!

This of course does not mean that such organisations, which, in the main perform a useful service, should be avoided. It does mean that one should know how the systems work before putting a toe in the water.

He seems perfectly happy doing what he does and he doesn't appear to be short of money. In any case, returns are a matter of the risk you chose to take and part of his job is to assess that. In fact, over a 10 year period, the best of my investments did better than twice what the market achieved. The losses pulled the average down to only 50% better. I have, in the past, perhaps, been less risk averse than many. These days I only put about 10% of my capital into high risk investments.

Colin Bignell

We are not all made the same. Many prefer the security of a steady income to the risks involved in investment or even just those of setting up a business.

Colin Bignell

Until I get close to retirement I intend to put my money in fairly high-risk investments since I consider there is no chance of getting a decent return on low-risk investments.

Because it's much more difficult to do so _consistently_.

So were you wrong, and Paul Lewis correct?

Is that what you are saying?