How safe is your pension? If you have a “defined benefit” pension – based on your final salary, linked to inflation and paid for as long as you live – you probably think it is …
Relying on a “defined benefit” pension? Don’t
Category: Blog
Why it isn’t OK to eat people – even if you are really hungry
I wrote in the MoneyWeek editor’s letter this week about a court case in Italy that overturned a conviction of shoplifting from a supermarket on the basis that the thief was in dire need of food. …
Actually, fund fees do matter
What do fees matter? Quite a lot I am often accused by the financial industry of being obsessed by the fees they charge. What do the fees matter, they say, if the performance is good? …
The EU referendum will not drag on, whatever the result
Whatever the result of the referendum it is in everyone’s interests to accept it I interviewed Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson today. We talked about a few interesting things – see my piece here and …
How we can stop more companies like BHS from collapsing
BHS failed because it was a badly handled business laden with huge debt What killed BHS and how can we stop it happening again? I went on BBC Radio 4’s World Today last night to …
Why companies with big pension deficits should still be allowed to pay dividends
Philip Green: entitled to his £400m Should companies with pension deficits be allowed to pay dividends to shareholders? You probably think the answer to that one is simple: most certainly not. That’s definitely the main thought …
Who’s really to blame for the BHS pension black hole
Central bankers’ monetary madness is destroying our world OK, my final post on BHS (for now, anyway). I said in the posts below that 1) it isn’t a given that firms with pension fund deficits …
Nicola Sturgeon’s £6m baby box is a pointless gimmick
The SNP are in a tricky position at the moment – the people who support them want a huge variety of different things. Lots of them (not all of them) want another referendum; some of …
Employers and workers are both gaming the welfare system
Does the welfare system encourage companies to pay low wages? Does the tax credit system encourage people to only work part time? Do people work the tax credit system to work the minimum hours for …
Low interest rates are doing more harm than good – quadruple them and see what happens
I’ve been boring you all for a few years now on the pernicious effects of very low interest rates. I’ve said more on the subject in my editor’s letter in the magazine this week. But …