Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.
George Osborne: "At the heart of the Budget is a long term economic plan"
Chancellor George Osborne has dismissed fears newly retired people could "blow" their pension pot under reforms introduced in Wednesday's Budget.
Mr Osborne said pensioners were "responsible people who are capable of making decisions about their future".
From 2015, people reaching retirement age will be able to spend the money however they want, rather than having to use it to buy a guaranteed income.
The move wiped £5bn off the value of firms involved in the pension industry.
It also raised concerns about a fresh buy-to-let boom if pension pots were used to buy property as a retirement income, or people deciding to invest their money in higher risk - and higher interest - things such as the stock market.
'Coherent reform'Personal finance experts said the proposed changes to annuities - bonds which provide a fixed income for the rest of the owner's life - will significantly change the way people fund their retirement.
Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.
Ed Balls says he worries "choice and flexibility" could end up being "reckless and irresponsible"
It is expected that anyone over the age of 55 who belongs to a private pension scheme (as opposed to a final salary scheme) will be able to take out their savings as a lump sum to spend or invest as they like.
Mr Osborne dismissed concerns that retired people will spend all their pension at once and end up relying on the state.
"It's all part of a coherent pension reform," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
"So we have a more generous basic state pension, less means-testing and that enables us to get rid of a quite old fashioned set of government requirements, put in place many decades ago, that people had to take out annuities.
"While annuities might be right for many people, they are not right for many, and returns from annuities have been much lower over the last 15 years or so.
Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.
"In the end, people who have saved through their lives, who have earned that money, I think should be trusted to make their own decisions, with good advice, about what to do with that money in retirement."
Lib Dem pensions minister Steve Webb is to make a Commons statement on the changes at 12:15 GMT.
Labour's shadow chancellor Ed Balls said he supported the "principle" of more flexibility over pensions, because the annuities market is "not working" and "people are being ripped off".
'Beer and bingo'But he said scrapping it altogether was a potentially "reckless and irresponsible" move, which could "leave people running out of money".
"Will people with ordinary-sized pension pots be able and encouraged to withdraw all of their pension savings from their pension pot and either try and invest it themselves or spend it?" he asked.
"And if they do, what happens when the money runs out? Who then picks up the tab?"
Pensions changes were among a series of measures announced in a Budget that Mr Osborne said would reward the "makers, doers and savers".
However, hours after he outlined his plans, the Conservatives faced a backlash over an advert highlighting changes to beer and bingo taxes.
The online advert, tweeted by Tory chairman Grant Shapps, said the cuts would "help hardworking people do more of the things they enjoy".
Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.
Danny Alexander: "I thought it was a spoof at first - it's pretty extraordinary"
It was described as "patronising" by Mr Osborne's deputy, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander, who said he initially thought it was a "spoof".
Labour said it was "ill-conceived" and "condescending".
Ed Balls said: "The idea that working people can be fobbed off and patronised because 'they' like things like bingo and beer, it's the Conservative Party of the past. It shows how out of touch they are."
End QuoteThe Treasury's proposed pension reforms could significantly reduce the supply of credit to companies and to the government from a source other than our banks"
But George Osborne said the controversy had been "whipped up by the Labour Party who didn't have anything else to say about the economy".
Conservative sources told BBC News they were "completely relaxed" about the tweet and "astonished" by the row, adding it would not be "pulled" because it was a "one-off" message and not part of any campaign.
In his fifth Budget - 15 months away from the next general election - the chancellor set out measures aimed at supporting the economic recovery, including tax breaks to boost productivity, exports and manufacturing.
He said Britain was growing at a faster rate than any other advanced economy - revising growth forecasts up to 2.7% in 2014 - but he warned the job of recovery was "far from done".
Other measures announced in the Budget include:
How will the Budget affect you? Email us at haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk adding 'Budget' in the subject heading and including your contact details.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Trust people with pensions - Osborne
Dengan url
http://cangkirtehhangat.blogspot.com/2014/03/trust-people-with-pensions-osborne.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Trust people with pensions - Osborne
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Trust people with pensions - Osborne
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar