05/20/2009: "labour - on pensions"

i had a meagre little fund set up which (in theory) have provided a small income in retirement and/or if i died, would leave the better half with enough brass to bury me and pay for a holiday.

i invested the money from a company loyalty share option scheme, which i paid so much per week through my wages, in this mini pension/insurance scheme, instead of squandering the brass.

5 years ago it was worth Ł3000 - 3 years ago it was worth Ł4800 - not a lot i grant you, but enough to cover the costs, when my time is up.

for the last two years, the amount that should have been invested and making small profits under "the plan" has shrunk, due to changes in the law, which now allow companies to use pension funds for other aspects of their business (thanks labour!)
last year my annual statement came, revealing that now its only worth Ł2500, its dwindling at a rapid rate.
in the meanwhile, under the spin of "we are all living longer", my retirement age has increased to 68 - thats 3 years extra working for me (thanks labour again)

im now informed in a letter today, that the "old plan" is being cancelled and closed, (another labour masterstroke - instead of making companies keeep funds in their pension pots to honour promises made when schemes are set up, they can now simply use the money that us normals have put in, for other means, and then close the pension plan)
i am given 3 stunning options:

option 1:
i can take a lump sum one off payment as full and final payment based on my fund as it is now. (currently Ł2200) but this will be subject to tax on 75% of it, at emergency paye tax levels. so id be lucky to see Ł1800 of it!
option 2:
i can move it to a new pension fund that i may chose to take out (or an existing one) but i must pay fees to move it to this other fund (wiping more off my lump sum for "admin costs") and only if this other fund allows me to transfer fixed benefits! (which can involve higher transfer costs to my lumpsum)
option 3:
i can transfer it to the company's brand new fund, again for a fee, which will only be close to as good as the fund i was already a part of. on further reading it appears i am to lose approxiamately 10% over the life of it!

a stunning set of options which highlight perfectly why the labour party simply have no clue or idea about pension funds and how to set them up and regulate them!

yes, it is the company that are changing things around, but they have only been able to do this because of this labour government's sheer incapacity to set laws and rules that work to the benefit of anyone in the country!
ie, companies (like the banks) only operate under the laws and guidelines that GOVERNMENT set out
if they are failing, it is the man in the street thats paying, in hard cash and/or working years longer before they can retire!

when they came into office in 1997, labour inherited the strongest pension fund ever in the UK, and one of the top four pension provisions in the world - today it is in tatters.
but where will those in power be, when it all hits home should i die or retire?
nowhere in sight as they will have long gone with a huge pension pot to call their own!

thanks for nothing labour....