This week, I spoke in a special Westminster debate about the future of defined-benefit pension schemes.
I know that this issue is hugely important to a huge number of workers across the country, including here in Solihull. As a former personal finance journalist I have been covering the issue for many years, and know the many difficult factors involved.
Worse, I have also seen first-hand the heart-rending consequences when things go wrong. At the Allied Steel and Wire works in Cardiff, and at Maersk, I heard the heartbreak in the voices of workers – some just weeks from retirement – whose pensions had just gone up in smoke.
Although there are as many nuances as there are different schemes, the core problem with defined-benefit pensions is simple: they have promised far more than they can ever hope to pay out, and have too few new and younger members to possibly support the number of retirees who will depend on them.
In my speech (which is available on my website), I outlined some steps the Government could take to try to solve the problem and put people’s pensions onto a sustainable footing. They included: breaking the link with employers; setting up a ‘common denominator’ pension to help compare existing schemes; and consolidating lots of ill-managed small pensions into larger schemes which could offer a broader range of packages such as a social care option.
Nobody deserves to have decades’ of careful provision for their later years fall apart. That’s why it’s so important that we act now, whilst we still can.
In other news, on Sunday I had the great pleasure of awarding the Presidency of the Solihull Lions to Ken Bate at a very enjoyable event hosted by Paul Jolly.
The Lions are a wonderful organisation, with over a million members giving back to their communities all over the world. For example, here in Solihull they raised £10,000 to present FastAid with life-saving new defibrillators in 2015.
Our local Lions club plays important part in fostering the volunteer spirit which I’ve noted so often in our town, and I’m proud to be a member.
Originally published in the Solihull News, 20/07/18.