Pension savers could be paying tens of thousands of pounds in unnecessary charges over the course of a lifetime. Life insurers, who have traditionally dominated the market for private pension plans, charge over the odds. A 38-year-old saver with a £100,000 pension plan today and investing £10,000 a year for the next 30 years could lose almost £100,000 owing to excess charges.
The data is based on the charges levied by pension providers for access to the same funds. Traditional life insurers fare very badly in such comparisons as they tend to have percentage-based administration fees, and as the savers’ funds appreciate, these become very costly. Flat fees, by contrast, are often much more affordable.
Broadly, criticism of the life insurers that account for a large part of the pension-fund market is accurate. Percentage-based fees do penalise savers with larger funds and several insurers charge uncompetitive percentages.
Quote Of The Day
“The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.”
Vidal Sassoon
Alternative Quote Of The Day
“This used to be a government of checks and balances. Now it’s all checks and no balances.”
Gracie Allen
Money Statistics
$45 — the price of a single ounce of the world’s most precious brand of prime beefsteak: Japanese Ozaki.
One million — the number of shares Apple boss Tim Cook could receive in the business by 2025 if the tech titan continues to perform strongly. It would be his second stock grant, mirroring the one million shares he received on taking over from Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in 2011. The award is worth between $76m and $114m depending on Apple’s share price performance.
£7m — the price of a James Bond-like speedboat that can dive underwater. It is being developed for the British special forces.The Victa submersible is to undergo sea trials in early 2021.
£25.3m — how much the worlds’ youngest top birdwatcher (she has spotted half of the world’s 10,738 species), Mya-Rose Craig, 18, has sold the rights to her memoir for, following an auction involving 14 publishers.
€134,000 — the price for a tiny 6.51sm apartment at the top of a block of flats in Paris’ sought-after fourth arrondissement.
$383m — the amount Presidential candidate Joe Biden raised in September, breaking the $364.5m monthly record he set in August. It October his campaign said it had a $432m war chest at its disposal.
€500m — the value of benefit Italy receives from immigrants. In 2018, they paid €26.6bn in taxes, and received €26.1bn in state benefits.
£1.2bn — the annual earnings US rapper Dr Dre takes from his company.
$5.7bn — how much the eight films (plus spin offs) the petrol-fulled Fast & Furious franchise has made. There are plans for three more films before the old car is disassembled.
£1.2trn — the total value of assets so far that financial services firms operating in Britain have moved to the EU ahead of the end of the transition period on the 31st of December. That’s up from £1trn at the end of 2019.
Today’s National Day
NATIONAL SUNDAE DAY!
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