Where’s support for pensioners?

I WAS recently angered to read in the national press that thousands of older people are still succumbing to the Conservative government’s ill-thoughtout scheme of 2015. From that time private pension contributions were allowed to be withdrawn at an earlier stage than at maturity for which it was originally intended.

As a member of the Advisory Forum on Ageing at Westminster, when the serious potential pitfalls were clearly recognised we strongly opposed this proposal, as did the Financial Conduct Authority, the Financial Services Regulator and genuine pension companies themselves.

At that time we aired our deep concerns that it would leave itself wide open to unscrupulous finance companies who would ill-advise vulnerable older people to hand over their lifetime savings and sign up to poor investments.

It was assumed that as government had a vested interest in pension savings which were tax-free and would provide additional income in retirement, that the new proposal would be accompanied by a rigid set of rules to avoid any mismanagement.

Particularly with the state of the financial market in 2020, one would think that now is not the time to consider withdrawing any pension contributions – and it is felt that many are likely to rue the day in their later years when additional income becomes even more important to ‘prop up’ the meagre state pension.

Whether the government (and the taxpayer?) will readily provide extra support in the future for such cases, who as a result of their actions find themselves in financial difficulties is questionable, don’t you think?

Howard Lewis Chairman, former UK Older People’s Advisory Group Member, former UK Advisory Forum on Ageing (Westminster)