“Retirement Income Group Backs Elton John”

May 5, 2022 | Pensions, Retirement

Rock stars who’ve actually made it to retirement age have become great examples of the ‘why retire at 60/65/70 or even 75’ trend. Many healthy enough to carry on working can’t and won’t be able to afford to retire, of course, with the death of final salary pensions, shrinking state benefits and low savings rates. Not a problem for Sirs Elton, Mick and the rest of the Stones, whose old-age working lives are, I would guess, pretty cosseted. But how refreshing that the sponsors of both’s most recent tours are not Coca Cola or MacDonalds, but a retirement income charity. Next thing you know, they’ll stop dying their hair.

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“Annuity rates soar to 14-year high”

“Annuity rates soar to 14-year high”

I was asked this week whether annuities are now ‘a good investment’. They’ve been recommended very rarely in recent years, since ‘pension freedoms’ allowed pretty much unlimited drawdown on pension funds and anything left to be passed on to beneficiaries free of Inheritance Tax.

“Pension fund crisis as gilt yields climb”

“Pension fund crisis as gilt yields climb”

What? Why? With apologies to any investment professionals reading this (if you are, I’m flattered), here it is in a nutshell. To borrow money, the government issues bits of paper (gilts) which say ‘lend us £100, we’ll pay you 1% a year for 20 years and then pay you back’.