Written by Richard Smith Financial Expert on 28 June 2010
As most of you reading this comment will know, I have been on rant about Poor Performing Pension Plans for the past couple of years and for good reasons.
Let me take you through a couple of these now, and of course I will highlight a couple of facts about NPI Pensions.
Firstly the level of service offered by them has fallen in recent years primarily due to the fact they NPI is now closed to new business and no longer has any Financial Experts working for them that are able to provide the modern financial planning advice that is required .
Secondly and perhaps the primary reason to consider moving your Pension planning away from NPI is the fact that the level of charges with most of their plans are so high ( when compared with a modern Pension contract). Now of course this is not the fault of NPIs indeed when you first started your Pension Plan with them you would have found that the contract was fairly well positioned charge wise. Certainly in the “above average charged” plans it was at the lower end of the scale.
There are a good number of other issues surrounding NPI Pensions and of course many other providers in the market place and some of the problems surrounding NPI Pensions are outlined below:-
Customer Service Levels are lower than you could achieve elsewhere.
Charges are normally higher than could reasonable achieved from another more modern provider.
Investment Fund Choice is often limited and there is certainly no member of staff to provide you with the level of advice you require in order to obtain the right range of funds.
Investment Fund Performance with many providers the overall investment returns are poorer than you could expect from some of the better providers in the market place.
Retirement Options are often limited and if you take no action at Retirement you will be left with a product that is probably unsuitable. Certainly it will be lacking in some areas. Annuity Purchase is something that I have been concerned about for sometime now . By making the right decision and by moving to the right provider you will benefit from a greatly increased income for life.
Most Financial Experts are just not interested in providing you with the guidance you require if your Pension Plan Value is less than £30,000 or so which is why we have developed a service that will provide you with the guidance you require.
Please contact me using the form below, or on 0845 226 9106 for a further conversation about your Pension Planning options.
Richard Smith
Pension Advice Expert
Tags: NPI, NPI Life Assurance, NPI Pension, NPI With Profits
Posted in NPI News | Comments Off
Written by Richard Smith Financial Expert on 12 June 2010
Warning over private pension values
This shocking news was posted today from the UKPA, and of course Pension Planning has always been important and now this is confirmed.
(UKPA) – 2 hours ago
Three-quarters of Britons are retiring on incomes of just £2,000 a year or less from their private pensions, research has shown.
Nine out of 10 people who retired between 2004 and 2009 had accrued a pension pot worth less than £50,000, while 77% had saved less than £30,000, according to annuity specialist Partnership.
The group said at current annuity rates, a pension pot of £30,000 would convert into an annual income of just £2,000 a year.
Even once the basic state pension is included, single people will still have a retirement income of just £7,000 a year, while couples will receive around £10,100. In both cases this is significantly less than the current level of average earnings of around £26,000.
The group warned that one in four pensioners currently lives in poverty, and the situation could get worse unless people start saving more for their retirement.
Philip Brown, head of retirement products at Partnership, said: “The figures demonstrate that, put simply, people are not investing anywhere near enough for their retirement years. The data reveals that barely one in 10 people have a non-state pension pot of over £50,000.
“And with well over two-thirds of all of those in the post-50 age group having less than £30,000 in an annuity – which at today’s rates would typically give an annual income of just £2,000 a year, or £40 a week – the burden on an already heavily stretched state is going to be massive.”
The group also found that only 38% of people were taking advantage of the so-called open market option when they bought an annuity.
The open market option enables people to buy an annuity, which is used to convert their pension pot into a retirement income, from any provider in the market, meaning they can shop around for the best rate.
Partnership analysed figures from the Association of British Insurers.
Copyright © 2010 The Press Association. All rights reserved.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require any advice or recommendatioins in relation to your planning.
Richard Smith
http://www.thefinancezone.co.uk/freepensionreview
Tags: Abbey Life, Abbey Life Pension Transfer
Posted in Abbey Life, Abbey Life Executive Pensions, Equitable Life, Executive Pension, NPI News, Pearl Pension, Royal Sun Alliance, Scottish Provident | Comments Off
