Long ago, Equitable Life had a canny scheme. ‘Give us your money now, and we’ll give it back to you with a bit extra when you are older’. And lo! many wealthy people with money to spare did just that. It’s a long and complicated story that I shan’t rehash now, but 30 years later, people found that lo! the money wasn’t there, not the bit extra, not even the money they’d saved up in the first place. They’d been had as surely as any bent Christmas club – no turkey on the table for them.

‘Blimey, that’s a good idea’, said Cap’n Bob Maxwell. ‘Give us your money now, and we’ll give it back to you with a bit extra when you are older’. He didn’t of course. It was no longer there, spirited away whilst they were unable to look. No Turkey on the table for them.

‘Sheer Genius’! cried Cap’n Gordon, ‘now I’m in charge of the leaky vessel, I’ll try me hand at this scam’. ‘Heave Ho, me hearties, lets be ‘avin your pension savings’ And he did.

By this time, there weren’t many people left with working brain cells prepared to put money voluntarily into a pensions scheme.

“We’ll have to make it compulsory. It’s not fair, the wealthy and the middle class have had a chance to get ripped off for their savings, why not the working class?”

So was born the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST)with its automatic deduction of 1% of your wages. They preyed on the low paid, the ones who’d taken a job cleaning MacDonald’s toilets about two hours before their JSA allowance was due to be stopped. ’Give us your money now, and we’ll give it back to you with a bit extra when you are older’.

Soon there were 280,000 of them, and the millions were stacking up nicely in the government’s bank account. 280,000 largely because of what NEST politely referred to as ‘the ignorance factor’ – or ‘the people we are preying on are too stupid to realise that they could opt out of having 1% of their wages siphoned off to us’.

Not that the government was actually looking after this money itself – they were paying Tata £600 million to do that for them. You know Tata, the Indian company that was looking after the jobs of all those British steel workers, the ones that are now cleaning toilets in MacDonalds; the same company that the government gave millions to look after the jobs of Jaguar-Land Rover employees – who are now cleaning toilets in MacDonalds? That Tata.

Every week the government would shovel another few million over to Tata and everyone was very happy. Then they got an e-mail supposedly from ‘Tata’ – “that bank account is full, could you change your bank details to xx-xxx-xxx?” So they did.

They haven’t seen the money since.

£1.4 million of it. Tata swear blind they haven’t got it. The government haven’t got it. The feckless working class busy cleaning toilets who couldn’t be trusted to look after their own savings sure as Hell haven’t got it.  So who has?

“The bad guys” according to the chief executive of NEST, Tim Jones. (Who does he think he’s talking to – the Teletubbies?).

He won’t be resigning, “My view and the view of others was that I should stay.”

Why not? NESTs ultimate ambition is to give the savings of 10 million low paid workers to Tata for safekeeping. Think of the scams you could work with that sort of income.

Say ‘Tata’ to your pension…

davidb July 20, 2013 at 07:25

Sorry for my lateness in contributing.

I always knew I was on my own. I think most private sector folks in their
50′s always knew they were on their own. I recall hunting a bank manager’s
suggestion of “pension” with a rant about how only the people selling pensions
made any money out of them, and the government by short changing – and taxing!
– the end user at point of sale saved anything by me having one. You are on
your own.

It is in your interest to take an interest in the rate of interest. People
do the daftest things. They stick money in taxed bank accounts at no interest
and pay mortgages every month. They buy stuff on credit, regardless of
interest rates. I know a guy who had 7 credit cards!!

On the grand scale the biggest laugh about the new compulsory pensions is
that they need to get a subcontinental subcontractor to manage the scheme. Our
own admittedly bloated financial services firms apparently knew they couldn’t
get rich quick from it. The thing is a waste of time for everyone involved.
The sums are painfully low. Even 10% of minimum wage doesn’t pay my gas bill
for a year, so its hardly likely to provide the aspiring citizen with a rich
retirement. This is yet another bureaucratic confidence trick. Just like
National Insurance. Wasn’t that supposed to pay for pensions?

I am not bitter about the theft by stealth of my effort ( for savings are a
form of banked work ). I expect nothing but chicanery from elected
representatives. You just have to maintain a strong belief in the innate evil
of power and never ever forget that you are on your own.

20-20 hindsight
July 19, 2013 at 01:07

I remember their TV adverts clearly: ” With no commission to middlemen,
it’s an Equitable Life, Henry ”
It transpired that they paid their reps ”
Performance Related Emoluments “, which are clearly, er, totally different
from commission.

Mizz Mildred
July 18, 2013 at 12:20

I think Camerloon has just clocked that one Chris. Hence the recent
decision not to go on with alterations to cig packs and similar proposed
actions. Just let the people do what they want. The government will free of
them before pension time arrives. Who wants to be forced to work till seventy
odd anyway. Might as well be dead!

Mizz Mildred
July 18, 2013 at 10:03

Being not far off 80 our pensions are index linked but meagre in comparison
to even todays curtailed salaries. We have had our 20 odd years of benefit
from our pensions. In our time everyone got out of work at 55 in nursing,
police, etc and slid off to spend the later Euro in sunny places for part of
the year. By the time a lot of 66 odd year olds get into their seventies they
might still be asked to work! Presumably because so many of us live so long
that the big pension snatch was done while the thieves could still do it.
Equitable and Mr Brown were the worst offenders. I saw a very crumpled up and
weary looking Mr Brown on tele yesterday…..serves him right….he looked
terminal! He does not look very happy with himself. A bad conscience does not
give retirees a good pension unfortunately.No wonder so many get annoyed with
all those useless idiots getting mega golden handshakes when they are already
quids in. A lot of it public money gets off loaded that way. The greed that is
apparent now is frightening. No end to it I fear.

Chris July 18,
2013 at 10:07

Given the diet of carbonated syrup/phosphoric acid and processed
sugarfood the average UK prole consumes now, the thought must be they will
have all expired long before retirement.

Tom
Mein July 18, 2013 at 06:15

Why not deduct the £1.4 million from the Directors salaries, it may make
them just a little more careful in future.

Chris July 17,
2013 at 22:24

My advice to anybody who has assets – create a foreign trust and manage
your finances through that. What you don’t actually own cannot be stolen from
you.

Elena ‘andcart
July 17, 2013 at 19:49

This is all getting so boring, and there really isn’t anything much more to
say. Some of us were propping up the system by spending money on Private
Education for our children, or paying a mortgage so we wouldn’t need a Council
house. And some of us were actually saving.. So how much good has it done for
any of us? We were all ripped off in some way or another. But at least my
children got a half decent education because I bloody well paid for it. And
that is all the justification that I need.
They all pass Mummy a couple of
bob now and again, which I don’t actually need. But there ever was a vast
difference between Need and Want.

john Leon July 17, 2013 at 18:28

When I worked for Messer in the U.K. I paid in to a pension fund set up
with Equitable Life and over the years I paid the maximum amount I could, then
they f*cked up and I lost 70% of my private pension, I hold any money making
scheme and their glib advisers/sellers in contempt, when will these mendacious
thieves and plunderers be bought to justice, or will it be with piano wire and
lamp posts by persons with nothing left to lose?

charlotte July 17, 2013 at 17:41

As an employer I was given notice that I would have to offer a pension to
my employers and contribute to it. I thought they can fcuk off, why would I
contribute to someone else’s pension when I’m am a nano sized employer? I have
been told that those on an apprenticeship are exempt and so in future, as my
last full time qualified employer left in March I have decided to only replace
her with a chair renter. However, since the Government changed the rules on
renting hairdressers/barber chairs this is not so popular anymore. I believe
the renter must pay VAT to the likes of me on what they earn gross before I
take the usual 50%, even though I am not VAT registered. Instead the
hairstylist who rented now does a mobile service, and who can blame them? As
for the obligatory pension (that is if the employer takes it up, I am obliged
to contribute). I was also informed that when offering a pension to an
employer, that if the said employer asks my advice: is it worth it? I must say
I cannot advise you, you must seek help and advice from an independent
financial adviser.. I notice though that public information broadcasts are
advising people to take up the pension scheme without any financial advise. I
have never had a personal pension mainly due to the fact that I have mainly
been self employed. My regret is that I never invested in property. I have
worked since I was 13, just as a Saturday girl at first, I am 61 now and in
January, a month before my next birthday I will get a full state pension of
£110.15 a week. While I’m able to work that’s ok but once either my husband or
I am not here any longer and unable to work we won’t live on such a measly sum
in the south east. Thank goodness that we paid off our mortgage early by
paying more off than necessary and foregoing any holidays on a regular basis.
The stinker is that we would like to give our house to our only child now but
I’m told that won’t stop the Government selling it to pay for any care we may
need. I suppose at least we have a state pension though. I can’t see that for
the future OAP’s why else would they have this pension scheme in place. I just
hope my brother, who works at the Jag in Birmingham gets the pension he’s paid
into for over 25 years.

Furor
Teutonicus July 17, 2013 at 17:53

THEN, certain people have the utter balls to say; “Youre unemployed, set
youself up in bussiness. HERE! We can give you a “start up grant!”

Aye RIGHT laddie!!!

The white supremacist
formerly known as cascadian July 17, 2013 at
18:44

The moral of your story is never play by the governments rules.

Is it any wonder why high street shops are dying when I read your
description, you should immediately sell-up, get rid of all business
expenses except a few hand tools and offer your clients hairdressing at
their home, CASH only. If the numbers of clients are too many for one person
make an agreement with your assistants to do the same, they will pay you a
10 percent finders fee for all work provided by you, all payments CASH only.
Step two sign on at the DPW and collect as many benefits as you can, making
the point that you had to quit because of injury-tennis elbow, I cannot
stand, whatever. Step three draw up an agreement with your daughter
transferring your property for a nominal sum (assuming you have absolute
trust in her-I am sure you do)

Starve the government.

Yvonne July 17, 2013 at 14:51

Did I read that right, or is there a 0 missing somewhere?

– 280,000 people contributing to NEST
– Minimum wage (say, 40hrs x
£7/hr) = £280/wk
– 1% x £280 = £2.80 per wk per person
– 280,000 x £2.8
x 52 weeks = £40,768,000 pa

And Tata were paid £600 million to “manage” it??? Assuming the £600 million
was a one-off lump sum, it’d take nearly 15 years just to cover Tata’s
fee….

Ed P July 17, 2013 at 16:12

Yes, and “millions per week” doesn’t compute either if it’s £40 million
pa. Also, the “lost” £1.6 million is the amount accrued in just two
weeks.

Anna
Raccoon July 17, 2013 at 16:30

That is their fee for a ten year contract. During that time, NEST plan to
sign up 10 million low paid workers, not just the 280,000 they have so far.

How many of the nine million, seven hundred and twenty thousand expected
‘extra’ will now cheerfully say ‘Ta-ta’ to their savings is anyones
guess….

Moor
Larkin July 17, 2013 at 16:35

http://citywire.co.uk/new-model-adviser/nest-signs-600-million-tata-it-contract/a448964
Nest
Corporation, the trustee body of the National Employment Savings Trust
(Nest) has confirmed a long-term contract for the IT administration of the
pension scheme until 30 June 2020. The Tata contract covers web-based
enrolment, record keeping, contribution collection and details of each
member’s fund. The competition to provide administrative services to Nest
was concluded early, prompting some to question the value of Tata’s bid.
Nest chief executive Tim Jones (pictured) said there was a ‘mountain’ of
evidence on the quality of Tata’s proposal. ‘We went to the government and
said we want to close the completion early,’ said Jones.

Ted Treen July 17, 2013 at 13:06

Socialists always run out of other people’s money…

ivan July 17, 2013 at 19:11

If they didn’t then they wouldn’t be Socialists – it is the nature of the
beast after all.

Dioclese July 17,
2013 at 12:21

Never trusted them with my money. Any of them.

Thankfully worked for myself so stuck it all over the place in PEPs and
ISAs. No company pension, still too young for the state pension.

“Save for your old age” they said. “Make provision for your own future”. So
I did.

Then the bastards chopped savings rates from 7% to 3% halving my income.
Then, just to make things ‘better’ they introduced ‘funding for lending’ which
means that the banks and building societies don’t want my money and pay me 2%
gross if I’m lucky.

And do they care? Do they hell! All they keep banging on about is yoof
unemployment and people with mortgages. What about the poor bloody pensioners
who did what they were told and made provision for their old age? To hell with
the likes of us!

Hang on tho’ – we’re the ones most likely to vote. So roll on 2015. I’m
voting UKIP and stuff ‘em all…

Duncan Disorderly
July 17, 2013 at 11:41

I pay into a company pension because my employer is generous with the
contributions it makes, but I wouldn’t bother if it didn’t. When I think about
all the things that could happen that would nullify the benefits of a pension,
it doesn’t seem worth it. Indeed, with all the >useful< things I could
spend the money on now or in the near future, I can’t barely see the point in
sticking my money in a pension.

‘Things that could happen’ include:
– World war;
– The government
ends the tax free lump sum;
– The government ends up flat broke and takes
my pension assets;
– The government increases the state pension thereby
greatly reducing my need to save for old age;
– The government ends up
being run by communists or fascists who will take all my pension assets as a
matter of policy;
– Value of pension assets falls dramatically before
retirement;
– I die.

Kingbingo July 17, 2013 at 10:05

I’ve not put a single penny into a pension, and I don’t intend to start. I
feel the chances of the government stealing all/most of it sometime between
now and 40 year hence to be around 1 in 1.

But in fairness I am reasonably financially sophisticated (at least I’m
supposed to be for my work) so I am slightly better equipped than many to make
other plans. I would suggest that pensions are not necessarily bad options
especially if you’re older, because you can get the money out sooner, so less
time for the government to steal it. But putting it aside and hoping that the
government does not come for it in four decades, not a chance. I would rather
use Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs) and physical gold.

But for young folk like me almost all my money goes to paying off my
mortgage anyway. There is bugger all left for savings after. I bought what
would be considered 30 years ago a normal family home. The people I bought it
off had lived there for decades and worked in manual labour. My neighbours on
my left have lived there for 44 years and made curtains. My neighbour on the
right has lived there for 37 years and was a bookkeeper. I earn in the top 5%
and only just managed to afford a house with a garden. Most people my age
consider themselves lucky if they can afford a small 2 bed flat. How the hell
the average person in their 20s and 30s could be expected to buy a family home
in this country and save for a pension I don’t know. Big government can’t
last, which only makes me even more certain that in its final days it will
steal everything it thinks it can get away with, pensions pots and all.

Engineer July 17, 2013 at 20:52

I know it’s a cliche, but that’s absolutely spot on.

In addition, how much trust can one now place in the big financial
institutions and pension providers? They used to be staid and boring, but
generally fairly reliable. No more.

Better to make one’s own financial arrangements. at least if you cock
your own financial planning up, you have nobody to blame but yourself.
That’s what I’m doing, anyway.

Moor
Larkin July 17, 2013 at 09:47

@ £1.4 million of it. Tata swear blind they haven’t got it…………….. @

Maybe, in a way, they have……………
http://www.firstpost.com/blogs/tech-blogs/tata-indicom-in-bed-with-spammers-customers-be-damned-95956.html
Confusion.
Contradictory information across various channels. I’m not sure why — perhaps
it’s because they don’t really want to end SMS spam and telemarketing calls,
because that brings them revenues and Tata is supposedly a big player here. Or
perhaps it’s because their systems are a complete mess.

Fat Steve July 17, 2013 at 08:46

‘Say Tata to your savings’ —Priceless as always Anna —I come to think that
the only way to start the day is watching the uber raccoon at play

Labour Bastards
July 17, 2013 at 08:33

Is there anything the last Labour government (or indeed any Labour
government anywhere) has touched that they haven’t right royally fucked
up?
They are incompetence personified.

Furor
Teutonicus July 17, 2013 at 16:30

XX Is there anything the last Labour government (or indeed any Labour
government anywhere) has touched that they haven’t right royally fucked up?
XX

Yes.

Their own bank accounts.

JuliaM July
17, 2013 at 17:51

Spot on!

Saul July 18, 2013 at 01:18

The Minimum Wage.

Furor
Teutonicus July 18, 2013 at 08:50

I would call that a fuck up. Basically because every boss now treats it
as the MAXIMUM wage, and you will not get a PENNY extra, no matter WHERE
you go.

(In the type of jobs that drew minimum wage that is. Agency/factory
work etc)