Pension Wise

Pension Wise is a free and impartial service set up by government in 2015 offering guidance for people regarding pension freedoms introduced in the 2014 United Kingdom budget.[1] Under these changes those with a defined contribution pension scheme will no longer be forced to buy an annuity. Instead they will be allowed to take as much or as little from their pension pot as they wish to invest or spend themselves. The Independent has described this change as the biggest change to pensions in nearly a century.[2]

Pension Wise

The cost of establishing and supporting the service in its first year is £35 million.[3] The Pension Wise website has been criticised by the Work and Pensions Select Committee[4] as has the low take up of Pension Wise appointments [5] The Equity Release Council have recommended that Pension Wise be extended to allow advice on equity release.[6]

Responsibility for the service was initially under HM Treasury but moved to the Department for Work and Pensions in March 2016.[7]

Pension Wise guidance is delivered via telephone and face to face appointments or online. The service is available to people aged 50 years and over with a Defined Contribution pension to help them understand what they can do with their pension pot(s).[8]

Telephone appointments are provided through The Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS) and face to face appointments through Citizens Advice. Appointments are delivered by over 150 guidance specialists whose training has been accredited by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) or the Pensions Management Institute (PMI). Pension Wise does not give specific product or provider recommendations. It also stops short of providing advice, which must still be delivered by a regulated financial adviser.

To date there have been more than 7.5 million visits to the Pension Wise website and more than 250,000 Pension Wise appointments. [9]

According to the Financial Conduct Authority, 46% of consumers who took part in their consumer survey had received guidance from Pension Wise.[10]

See also

References
  1. "Pension Wise". Citizens Advice. 2015-04-06. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  2. Oliver Wright. "Budget 2014: George Osborne unveils major pensions and savings shake-up | UK Politics | News". The Independent. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  3. Broadbeck, Sam (8 October 2015). "Pension Wise staff redeployed amid low take-up". Money Marketing. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  4. "MPs warn of potential mis-selling scandal over new pension freedoms". The Guardian. 19 October 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  5. https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201516/cmselect/cmworpen/371/37107.html
  6. http://www.out-law.com/en/articles/2015/october/extend-pension-wise-remit-to-cover-equity-release-says-trade-body/
  7. "Economic Secretary to the Treasury announces next steps for Pension Wise". gov.uk. 16 September 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  8. https://www.pensionwise.org.uk/
  9. https://www.gov.uk/performance/pension-wise
  10. https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/market-studies/ms16-1-3-annex-3.pdf

Further reading
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