by Gareth Morgan on December 11, 2023
I’ve been told that ChatGPT and its equivalents will mean that there will be no need for benefits calculators or advisers in future. Not only will they provide an easy path through the complicated morass of benefits law and practice but they’ll also be able to find the loopholes and the best options for maximising […]
by Gareth Morgan on March 6, 2023
There has been increasing discussion and interest, recently, in the idea of using existing data, particularly from benefit claims, to determine or automatically award other benefits for people who are entitled. It would be a very attractive way of solving, or reducing, the enormous under-claiming of many benefits. After all, its proponents say, if we […]
by Gareth Morgan on August 9, 2022
There’s been some discussion recently about the use of pension savings, after the age of 55, to help meet the cost of living increases that are affecting many people. You can see some of this discussion on Henry Tappers blog about pensions (a highly recommended read): The cost of living crisis – and the value […]
by Gareth Morgan on May 13, 2019
The means testing rules for state benefits have, until now, always ignored pension savings until pension age has been reached. That means that people claiming working age benefits do not see them reduced because of any pension savings, unless they choose to take income or capital from them earlier. Once pension age was reached, and […]
by Gareth Morgan on January 16, 2019
At least, that’s what this government has decided it is. Two can live as cheaply as one, as the old saying goes. That would be good news from May 15th. This government has decided that two can live much more cheaply than one. A single person, over state pension age, and claiming Pension Credit, will […]
by Gareth Morgan on January 15, 2019
Burying bad news has a long and dishonourable political history. Choosing a day when the news is dominated by a major, and ideally tragic, story may take the focus of attention well away from other ‘difficult’ stories. The government seem to have continued this tradition by releasing the news of a major blow to pensioner […]
by Gareth Morgan on January 14, 2019
In a sneaky announcement the Government have chosen the evening before Brexit vote day for a written announcement that the rules about mixed age couples – will come into force on May 15th. This means that to claim Pension Credit in a couple, the youngest person has to be over state pension age. Loss over the […]
by Gareth Morgan on January 12, 2018
There is concern, increasingly voiced, by a number of well-informed commentators, about some of the consequences of the pension freedoms. The complexity of choices, the lack of knowledge of most pension savers and the actions of some advisers, particularly around pension transfers, have led to calls for changes that would lead to safer and more […]
by Gareth Morgan on December 22, 2015
Before the pension freedoms of April 2015, the practical reality, for most people with pension savings, was that they had to take an annuity. For those with benefits entitlements that was often a pretty poor bargain. The annuity was taken penny for penny from any means tested benefit entitlement that they had, whether Pension Credit […]
by Gareth Morgan on August 20, 2015
I wrote some time ago, over 3 ½ years in fact, about the consultation and call for evidence that had been published by the government announcing their policy intentions for support for mortgage interest in means tested benefits – http://blog.cix.co.uk/gmorgan/2012/01/06/mortgage-interest-support-consultation/. The Summer Budget 2015 has now produced the date of introduction of the proposal – […]