Budget 2014

[jakarta]

You are in a lucky position, I used to work in manufacturing and the only jobs advertised are minimum wage or £28-40K jobs working as a project managers or HR coordinators or similar. I'm part of the generation who's only meaningful qualifications were the ability to work hard, be reliable,don't let the boss down. I thought that would be enough to assure me of work but I was wrong, I just don't want to see others make my mistake. My only salvation is that I am debt free.

My Consultancy work is mostly to Manufacturing Industry and I would be amazed if the majority Shopfloor People that I see are on minimum wage, for example CNC Machine Operators can get work anywhere.

If its meaningful qualifications you want then why can't you get them through work?

I was unemployed/doing bar work/labouring after dropping out from my Degree (my fault) until I got a Lab Technicians job at the age of 25, didn't start getting professional qualifications until I was nearly 28 and I got my last one nearly 19 years later, I worked for 5 different Companies over that time and all paid or otherwise supported me to get them as it obviously benefitted them.

Glad to hear you are debt free, ironically it is one thing that I am not.... I owe, I owe, it's off to work I go

 

[Guinness Boy]

The lazy bloated life assurance cartel, have just got the arse kicking they had coming to them.

As someone who supplies to that industry but is not part of them you couldn't be more wrong. The life industry has every interest in being competitive and none whatsoever in being a cartel (and they are not a cartel). The protection industry is moving away from advised sales even though the agents still get commission after RDR and towards direct to customer. They have to compete on price and technology as they will increasingly appear on the aggregators (e.g. Compare the Market, Go Compare etc). It's the aggregators who will control who comes top by promoting brands by sacrificing their compensation but this is no different to Morrisons discounting Walls sausages one day and Richmond the next.

However I assume here you're talking about the annuity market. Once again it is fiercly competitive with some specialist firms and some highly dubious products (e,g equity release). However it has not been in the annuity firms' interest to collude since the creation of the Open Market Option.

If annuity rates and life premiums seem similar it's because they are worked out using broadly the same actuarial data. They all have access to the same mortality and morbidity data. The variance is the company's size, cost base, commission rates, churn rates and willingness to discount.

 

[somerset]

Hardly any point trying to pull some age rank on me son. Try to calm down .....incidently if you really don't give a rats bottom why the ? ......

No anger, all written with emotional detatchment, my added detail about age was simply to add context,... its not a competition thing..... ok now?.... but calling me 'son' will get you the back of my hand,...... so belay that if you will.

 

[Hotchilidog]

The thousands of people who ripped off our benefits system whilst they where in power, making fraudulent claims.

You are aware that benefit fraud accounts for less than one percent of welfare spending. This is far outweighed by the number of unclaimed benefits. The benefits system is in credit when it comes to fraud vs unclaimed benefits. You are also aware that half of welfare spending is on pensions, with the vast majority of other benefits going to people who are in work but do not earn enough to make ends meet. Also most claimants will be tax-payers and former NI payers merely picking up what they are due now that circumstances dictate they need benefits.

 

[tinycowboy]

They all have access to the same mortality and morbidity data.

I love discussing mortality rates with actuaries - and I'm not joking. Fascinating subject. Don't read the tables so much though.

 

[Geriatric Seagull]

A Toryboy Special budget that looks after all his public school chums earning £100k plus and keeps the Old Etonian clique in Downing Street happy. For the rest of us - nothing! Does he really believe that most people (including pensioners) actually have anything left to save at the end of the month? What's the interest rate on buttons? Oh no, to be fair, we'll buy an extra pint each before the game on Saturday with the penny a pint that Generous Gideon had saved us!

 

[Deleted member 22389]

A Toryboy Special budget that looks after all his public school chums earning £100k plus and keeps the Old Etonian clique in Downing Street happy. For the rest of us - nothing! Does he really believe that most people (including pensioners) actually have anything left to save at the end of the month? What's the interest rate on buttons? Oh no, to be fair, we'll buy an extra pint each before the game on Saturday with the penny a pint that Generous Gideon had saved us!

What would you have liked to see or in fact what can they realistically do to put more money directly in your pocket today?

 

[Guinness Boy]

The thousands of people who ripped off our benefits system whilst they where in power, making fraudulent claims.

Oh! People stopped making fraudulent claims the second Dave came in to power and never even thought of doing it before 1997? How very odd.

 

[Guinness Boy]

I love discussing mortality rates with actuaries - and I'm not joking. Fascinating subject. Don't read the tables so much though.

I have had many beers with many actuaries over my career (they tend to like a drink) and the stats (e.g. the chances of winning the lottery versus being killed by something improbable) are indeed fascinating. However my company makes quote and underwriting rules engines and discussion of this tends to get me banished / ignored / frowned at during social events. I think that's why I always act the arse out of work.

 

[Joe Gatting's Dad]

With you right up to the last sentence.

The lazy bloated life assurance cartel, have just got the arse kicking they had coming to them.

However we may end up with pensioners burning all their cash, before they pop their clogs.

My pension pot was built up by me deciding where I wanted to invest and therefore all is from my own efforts. All I want is to draw it down as I wish. The pension company have no knowledge as to whether this is my only source of income or if I have a pot of gold under the bed (which I don't). Naturally any pension drawdown is taxed at the normal rate under the PAYE Scheme.

 

[vegster]

My Consultancy work is mostly to Manufacturing Industry and I would be amazed if the majority Shopfloor People that I see are on minimum wage, for example CNC Machine Operators can get work anywhere.

If its meaningful qualifications you want then why can't you get them through work?

I was unemployed/doing bar work/labouring after dropping out from my Degree (my fault) until I got a Lab Technicians job at the age of 25, didn't start getting professional qualifications until I was nearly 28 and I got my last one nearly 19 years later, I worked for 5 different Companies over that time and all paid or otherwise supported me to get them as it obviously benefitted them.

Glad to hear you are debt free, ironically it is one thing that I am not.... I owe, I owe, it's off to work I go

I worked for three major companies in my field, professional qualifications were viewed with a certain disdain at my level of work. One employer said that if I funded myself for the qualification it would be a waste of time as they were not going to give me any increase in salary if I passed anyway. Nowdays, in my profession,its all based on taking on youngsters on minimum wage and training them up. They then may be offered a little over the minimum wage when good enough or just got rid then to re-employ another youngster. Genuine positions that pay £17-£19 K are rare.

 

[BLOCK F]

I'm no spring chicken. I'm funding my retirement through a personal pension plan and a company defined contribution pension scheme. After all that, I have nowhere near a further £15k extra cash to invest, although I am able to put away some on a monthly basis into an ISA. If I stopped contributing into the personal pension plan and put it in an ISA instead, I'd still get nowhere near £15k per year. Do people use ISAs as their primary pension pot?

Hi Tinycowboy,some financial commentators have indeed advocated saving for a pension through stocks and shares isas rather than say a SIPP.However,many suggest a bit of both.
I am now retired and have a SIPP from which I drawdown my requirements each year and to boost income ,my wife and I have stocks and shares isas containing equity income funds which pay out decent dividends.

 

[tinycowboy]

I have had many beers with many actuaries over my career (they tend to like a drink) and the stats (e.g. the chances of winning the lottery versus being killed by something improbable) are indeed fascinating. However my company makes quote and underwriting rules engines and discussion of this tends to get me banished / ignored / frowned at during social events. I think that's why I always act the arse out of work.

I see what you mean. Never mind - I am similarly socially ostracised, being not just an accountant, but one who specialises in knowing the many thousands of pages of technical accounting rules. I never mention it outside of work, unless specifically asked. I once tried an opening gambit with a fellow accountant about IFRIC 14, but he'd never heard of it - what kind of accountant was HE?? I usually stick to more conventionally interesting topics such as music, sport, films and reading, but, if I meet another accountant, I go straight to the BIG accounting topics.....

 

[tinycowboy]

Hi Tinycowboy,some financial commentators have indeed advocated saving for a pension through stocks and shares isas rather than say a SIPP.However,many suggest a bit of both.
I am now retired and have a SIPP from which I drawdown my requirements each year and to boost income ,my wife and I have stocks and shares isas containing equity income funds which pay out decent dividends.

I'm a bit embarrassed to be slightly out of touch with this kind of thing - mainly because I work for an asset management company. We have fantastic income funds. I think when I get closer to retirement I will swot up on how to structure everything post-retirement - checking out the optimum funds is quite an interesting thing to research if you have the time.

 

[BLOCK F]

I have had many beers with many actuaries over my career (they tend to like a drink) and the stats (e.g. the chances of winning the lottery versus being killed by something improbable) are indeed fascinating. However my company makes quote and underwriting rules engines and discussion of this tends to get me banished / ignored / frowned at during social events. I think that's why I always act the arse out of work.

Yup,have to agree with the drinking and actuaries.
Used to know a few who worked at Legal and General up at Kingswood in Surrey.........good drinkers and all slightly mad!

 

[BLOCK F]

I see what you mean. Never mind - I am similarly socially ostracised, being not just an accountant, but one who specialises in knowing the many thousands of pages of technical accounting rules. I never mention it outside of work, unless specifically asked. I once tried an opening gambit with a fellow accountant about IFRIC 14, but he'd never heard of it - what kind of accountant was HE?? I usually stick to more conventionally interesting topics such as music, sport, films and reading, but, if I meet another accountant, I go straight to the BIG accounting topics.....

Hello again,sorry to hear you are socially ostracised......not by everyone I am sure!
I was not an accountant but was the Operations Director of a pub company.............not often ostracised but always expected to get the beers in!!
Even worse!
P.S. I used to sit next to an accountant in the West Stand back in the 70's and a lovely fellow he was too.

 

[tinycowboy]

I used to sit next to an accountant in the West Stand back in the 70's and a lovely fellow he was too.

They're mostly OK when you get to know them - generally terrible taste in music/clothes though.

 

[jakarta]

I worked for three major companies in my field, professional qualifications were viewed with a certain disdain at my level of work. One employer said that if I funded myself for the qualification it would be a waste of time as they were not going to give me any increase in salary if I passed anyway. Nowdays, in my profession,its all based on taking on youngsters on minimum wage and training them up. They then may be offered a little over the minimum wage when good enough or just got rid then to re-employ another youngster. Genuine positions that pay £17-£19 K are rare.

I'm sorry to hear that - if you don't mind me asking what is your profession and field of work?

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Not harsh at all. Everyone would be delighted and going to bed thinking of the profit they are making instead of worrying and moaning about how much the prices are going up. Any sane person would hope the price would double from 18% to 36%, I would if I had a flat/house.

I'm sure you would think differently if :

a) You were on the bottom rung of the property ladder and wanting to upsize, maybe to start a family. The more your own property increases in value the bigger the gap tends to get between the levels.

b) If you had children - I really can't see how my children will ever be able to own their first property.

 

[LamieRobertson]

I'm no spring chicken. I'm funding my retirement through a personal pension plan and a company defined contribution pension scheme. After all that, I have nowhere near a further £15k extra cash to invest, although I am able to put away some on a monthly basis into an ISA. If I stopped contributing into the personal pension plan and put it in an ISA instead, I'd still get nowhere near £15k per year. Do people use ISAs as their primary pension pot?

I use a SIPP which is in drawdown and a ISA ..and enjoy having some degree of control