Autumn Statement 2016 pensions cold calling crackdown announced but will there be other changes?
Almost 11million pensioners are being targeted by as many as 250million cold call scams a year
THE Chancellor Philip Hammond has announced a ban on cold calling to sell pension products in his Autumn Statement.
Philip Hammond used his first budget statement to announce the new rules.
It is feared that thousands may already have lost their life savings from being offered non-existent investment opportunities.
Almost 11million pensioners are targeted by as many as 250million cold call scams a year.
Under the government plan, all calls where a business has no existing relationship with the individual will be forbidden.
But what other pension-related changes can we expect in the Chancellor’s speech today?
Critics are worried that it will lead people to make poor decisions and leave them without proper funding for retirement.
It’s unlikely that the Lifetime Isa will be ditched, but there could be some changes to the rules announced today.
Pensions freedom cut backs
Many thought that Hammond was unlikely to tinker with pensions, after George Osborne gave them a face-lift during his six-year right. However, he announced cuts to the Money Purchase Annual Allowance – the amount that can be reinvested from £10,000 to just £4,000.
Pension freedom rules, which were rolled out in April last year, mean anyone over 55 can access their private pension pot early.
Commenting on the proposed reduction, former Pensions Minister Steve Webb said: “Cutting this allowance flies in the face of efforts to make retirement more flexible.
"This will have a profound impact on the ability to go on working and contributing worthwhile amounts to a pension. We should be trying to make combining work and drawing a pension easier not harder.
He added: "We also need to know what will happen for people who have already drawn taxable cash expecting to be able to go on saving £10,000 per year. Any retrospective change would be totally unfair to savers."
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