The Telegraph has reported that a sharp increase in the number of people who are classed as self-employed has, in turn, prompted a decrease in the number of pension contributions that are being made in the UK.
Legislation surrounding auto-enrolment and the requirement for an employer to make pension contributions on behalf of their employees and for the employee themselves to contribute, obviously does not apply to those who work for themselves. Concerning figures highlight that self-employed people are not saving into personal pensions and therefore are not planning for their retirement. Of further concern is that these individuals are not benefitting from the tax relief associated with investing into a pension pot, preferring to invest back into their businesses in the short term. Figures show that, in 2001, 3.3 million people were classed as being self-employed, which had rocketed to an impressive 5 million by the time figures were released last year. The fact that, the number of people classed as self- employed has grown significantly, yet there are lower figures of pension contributions being made amongst the self- employed indicates that there is a worrying trend in which people who work for themselves are not saving for their futures.
Read the full story from The Telegraph.
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Women born in the 1950s lose state pension age case against the government 7 October 2019
Women born in the 1950s lose state pension age case against the government
The High Court has ruled in favour of the government in relation to the case against the Backto60 group regarding the increase of state pension age for women born in the 1950s.
In a verdict that seemingly shocked the courtroom, the changes to state pension age for women were not deemed discriminatory. In fact, the legislation was recognised as introducing fairness and consistency to the treatment of men and women in relation to the state pension. Campaigners accept and embrace the matter of equality of the sexes where state pension age is concerned but argued that the government proceeded in an inequitable manner when introducing new state pension age legislation. They asserted that women born in the 1950s were given insufficient time to prepare for the substantial changes and that this left many concerned in positions of financial hardship. The High Court disagreed with these claims and declined to award compensation to any of those affected. Historically, prior to 2010, women qualified for their state pension at the age of 60 but this has been gradually increasing. The retirement age was lifted from 60 to 65 to emulate the treatment of men in relation to the state pension. This is set to increase to 66 in 2020 and then again, to 67 by 2028. The BBC reported that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) welcomed the decision as the changes were “entirely lawful and did not discriminate on any grounds” but obviously the ruling has not been received favourably by all.
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The Pensions Regulator to issue penalties for poor reporting 7 October 2019
The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has stated that it is to commence a ‘crackdown’ on any pension schemes where trustees are not compiling accurate data and on those who are not performing regular validity checks on that data.
The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals
Payroll: need to know
cipp.org.uk
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