Pension shocker for workers under 50

This was the title of the editorial in the FT on March 29th.

The central argument of the article is that the assumptions and accounting rules that apply to the funding of company pension are wrong. If the correct assumptions are applied it means that an employee and employer will have to contribute up to 30% of their salary to fund a pension. The article ends with these chilling words:” The unpalatable truth is that most people under the age of 50 will not be able to retire in their 60s, but must carry on working part-time. Either that or live in penury.”

This is one take on the problem. The other is that it will be necessary to take a lot of disposable income out of the pockets of younger people to fund their pensions. This might be by tax or enforced pension contributions. Money spent on pensions will not be spent on consuming. Get the picture. The pension’s problem is a marketing problem that few have understood. If you want to read some more have a look at my article "Be afraid, be very afraid". Dick Stroud www.20plus30.com