Heating allowance...what's next to go for seniors?

Astramax said:
My understanding was endowment mortgages were a disaster being that money was owed after the mortgage term finished as not enough enough was earned from the endowment, final salary pensions have not existed for years now.
Click to expand...

I have a final salary pension.
 
Alan22 said:
Quite right, these pensioners have no self respect begging from the tax payer, where is their dignity?
Click to expand...
Exactly, if they cannot afford to retire without holding their begging caps out, then they shouldn't be retiring until they are in a better position.
 
Astramax said:
My understanding was endowment mortgages were a disaster being that money was owed after the mortgage term finished as not enough enough was earned from the endowment, final salary pensions have not existed for years now.
Click to expand...
Key reasons for the demise final salary or defined benefits are two folds.
1. Legislation required the company to have unlimited liability. As the life expectancy increased companies found that they had to regularly top up the funds to keep it solvent. Many had assumed that a pensioner would draw their pension for 10years on average but it nearly doubled.
2. The final straw came when Gordon Brown as chancellor introduced tax on dividend applicable to all including the pension funds. This sudden loss of 20% tipped even the most prudent funds into the red, requiring companies to make additional provisions.
3.majority of final salary pension funds are underfunded and may become a problem for people who joined in the mid nineties.


endowment mortgage were a clever instrument that relied on stock market performance but were often run by managers that could not cut it in unit trust industry. In the unit trust market, a poor performance means investors exit quickly an opportunity not available to mortgage holders. For banks, it was a money spinner as low headline prices masked the risk. The small print, often never read meant that a shortfall was still to be made up by the borrower in most cases.
 
bright_Spark said:
Not me, I am self made
Click to expand...

Always wondered who this was :)

self-made-man-500px.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top