A recent British Museum exhibition "I am Ashurbanipal king of the world, king of Assyria" has lessons for us all. Ashurbanipal ruled the largest empire in the world at the time of his reign (669–c. 631 BC). Astonishingly, artefacts survive 2,500 years on, largely because accounts were written in stone.
I doubt whether much of today’s written work will be around in 50 years let alone 2,500 years’ time. A worry for us all?
Personal heartache
Inaccurate records have caused me heartache. In 2017 my redundancy compensation on the closure of Pensions World triggered a pension tax payment. I opted for scheme pays, that is, the pension scheme deducts the amount owing to HMRC from your pension and reduces your pension to make up for the payment.
All done and dusted, or so I thought until five years later in 2022 HMRC wanted to see the proof that the scheme had actually paid the money due – but where was it?
It was a period of unnecessary high anxiety and stress. Almost a nightmare, getting a letter out of the blue on the eve of the late Queen’s jubilee with the threat of daily fines unless HMRC received relevant documentation within 14 days.
My paid freelance work was neglected and income lost as I to’ed and fro’ed between HMRC, Willis Towers Watson (the third-party administrator), the pension scheme trustees and my former employer.
Fortunately, the tax payment was discovered to have been paid on time all along but recorded incorrectly in the wrong tax year. I had to plead for two time extensions from HMRC. Anyone else without my pension contacts would have found it a dystopian nightmare with no end in sight.
I regaled this story to an IFA – he was not surprised, remarking that the pension admin of most insurance companies was poor.
Friends in their 60s have also experienced delay and real hardship, particularly in the first months of their retirement. Under ‘starters orders’ doesn’t always equate to a lightening response when it comes to retirement day.
Improvements will come with the new pension dashboards such as Standard Life’s.
We seem to be much better at slick marketing and investing than splashing the cash on the unglamorous back office, of pension admin with top tech, and highly trained, experienced and motivated staff to match the more visible roles of marketing and investment.
It could be you next
If a former editor of Pensions World can have problems with her pension, then almost anyone could can. You or your clients could be next.
