Browse content similar to 15/09/2014. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
Have you stashed enough cash or will you be left short when you retire? | :00:00. | :00:12. | |
I am working. I need the extra money. I don't think what pdople | :00:13. | :00:19. | |
realise living on a pension. We jump aboard the pension | :00:20. | :00:21. | |
express to find out why the wheels Who has got a pension? OK, who | :00:22. | :00:24. | |
hasn't got a pension? And even if you have saved tp, | :00:25. | :00:33. | |
could the scammers be There are numerous people who have | :00:34. | :00:44. | |
said to me that they sometiles feel the only way out of this misery is | :00:45. | :00:49. | |
to commit suicide. That is no escape. | :00:50. | :00:50. | |
This is Inside Out and I'm Chris Jackson. | :00:51. | :00:59. | |
So what are you planning for retirement? | :01:00. | :01:01. | |
Long leisurely walks in the countryside, playing gardening, | :01:02. | :01:04. | |
But what if you can't afford to stop working? | :01:05. | :01:10. | |
As I've discovered there ard a growing number of people here who | :01:11. | :01:13. | |
The country's workforce is getting older. | :01:14. | :01:31. | |
For many people, this is not a choice. They have two work longer. I | :01:32. | :01:38. | |
can't retire because I can't afford to. I am just able to survive now. | :01:39. | :01:41. | |
With fewer people saving, the number of pensioners having to | :01:42. | :01:44. | |
I need to have a little bit extra money. My pension is not enough | :01:45. | :01:56. | |
The people of the north east are the worst in the country whdn it | :01:57. | :01:59. | |
In fact the latest government stats show that nearly a third | :02:00. | :02:04. | |
of households here don't have any private pension whatsoever. | :02:05. | :02:06. | |
But if you thought you could just retire and rely on the statd, | :02:07. | :02:10. | |
Can we help you save on your energy bills? | :02:11. | :02:23. | |
Most of the staff members here are in their early 20s. | :02:24. | :02:35. | |
One notable exception is Charles West. | :02:36. | :02:40. | |
What is your date of birth, please? 1971. What are you doing here? | :02:41. | :03:07. | |
Working. I need to. I need the extra money. The pension isn't enough I | :03:08. | :03:12. | |
don't think they realise wh`t it is like to try to live on a pension. | :03:13. | :03:14. | |
So to supplement what he receives from the state, | :03:15. | :03:18. | |
Charles works the phones fotr hours a day for an energy company. | :03:19. | :03:23. | |
There is nobody cheaper than we are. Why didn't you save when yot were | :03:24. | :03:32. | |
younger? I was made redundant. If a firm takes over your firm, they sack | :03:33. | :03:39. | |
their laps and put their own in place. So you weren't able to save | :03:40. | :03:47. | |
in your lifetime? No, not at all. I'm losing my voice again. Ht is all | :03:48. | :03:55. | |
the talking you do. What it is like being surrounded by these young | :03:56. | :04:00. | |
people. Great. They keep me young. Save that as much as you can. Do | :04:01. | :04:06. | |
they listen to you? They ard too young, they don't care. Good start? | :04:07. | :04:23. | |
Good. We do get a lot of older customers bringing in. It is good | :04:24. | :04:27. | |
that he can use his stories to get the sale. The only requiremdnt he | :04:28. | :04:38. | |
has at times is his technology. Put in your password. Happy days, | :04:39. | :04:44. | |
sorted. You don't find it odd that he is he a? I did at the st`rt. But | :04:45. | :04:51. | |
he grows on you. He is like one of the lads. Another sale. Another | :04:52. | :05:06. | |
sale. Thank you. Not bad at all I am very pleased. You are finished | :05:07. | :05:10. | |
now. I have been finished four years! Do you think you will have to | :05:11. | :05:17. | |
keep on working? Yes. How c`n I live otherwise? They are going to carry | :05:18. | :05:31. | |
you out in a box? Yes. Charles isn't as unusual as you think. | :05:32. | :05:34. | |
The number of over`65s still working h`s more | :05:35. | :05:36. | |
There are now over one million working pensioners. | :05:37. | :05:43. | |
So at the time of your life when you thought you might be out watering | :05:44. | :05:47. | |
the garden, you might be sttck in the office at the water cooler. | :05:48. | :05:55. | |
It is one of the greatest achievements of mankind that we are | :05:56. | :06:01. | |
living longer. The critical issue is we need to plan for this. This is an | :06:02. | :06:06. | |
education issue in schools to help people plan for later life. Invest | :06:07. | :06:13. | |
in both income and health bdcause the prevention of AIDS`related | :06:14. | :06:16. | |
condition such as diabetes, stroke, heart disease is critical. `` of | :06:17. | :06:22. | |
health related conditions. Staying fit is vital | :06:23. | :06:25. | |
for 70`year`old Pat Thompson. Seven o'clock in the morning and I | :06:26. | :06:36. | |
am about to start by paper round. I hope it doesn't rain. | :06:37. | :06:38. | |
Pat retired three years ago with just a small private pension. | :06:39. | :06:44. | |
She's since had to take on two part time jobs. | :06:45. | :06:51. | |
And she depends on her bike for both of them. | :06:52. | :06:57. | |
I am extremely lucky my health is good. The fact that I have had a | :06:58. | :07:06. | |
head and to knee replacements has helped enormously. `` hip. Hf your | :07:07. | :07:16. | |
health happens been improved like that, you might thus be abld to do | :07:17. | :07:22. | |
the work you need? I wouldn't, no. I you keeping your head above water? | :07:23. | :07:28. | |
Just about. So these jobs aren't about phone? No. It is that's close | :07:29. | :07:40. | |
to the bone? Deserts will you? Sometimes. But now I have t`ken | :07:41. | :07:44. | |
steps to improve things, I `m not so scared. | :07:45. | :07:45. | |
Many more pensioners will bd following in Pat's tracks, | :07:46. | :07:47. | |
We need more in place to have good pension schemes. We have sedn | :07:48. | :07:57. | |
stagnation in wages and for many people in the north`east, the | :07:58. | :08:03. | |
priority is how they tackle their cost of living. How they get through | :08:04. | :08:07. | |
the week, how they get throtgh the mud, how the feed and clothd their | :08:08. | :08:11. | |
family. For many workers we speak to, paying into a pension isn't | :08:12. | :08:14. | |
absolute luxury for them. For Charles, another day of work | :08:15. | :08:24. | |
at the call centre is over. Just a small loaf I get and there | :08:25. | :08:44. | |
aren't any. I am going to h`ve those, they are produced. How does | :08:45. | :08:49. | |
the maths add up for you? I just about get through. I get a ` week. | :08:50. | :09:05. | |
`` ?169 week. How much goes out Things like gas and Electric, ? 09 a | :09:06. | :09:11. | |
month. I have got about 60 or ? 0 a week. That is not a lot. No. How | :09:12. | :09:19. | |
would you cope with that? Jtst take care, don't spend a lot. Anxthing | :09:20. | :09:28. | |
you miss you would like to get? Not really, no. I don't think so. | :09:29. | :09:35. | |
Luxuries `` are there any ltxuries you can afford? Not really, apart | :09:36. | :09:47. | |
from the odd beer. That's md, thank you ladies. I can't buy you the kind | :09:48. | :09:58. | |
of clothes I'd like to wear. I like to wear nice clothes. I do find I | :09:59. | :10:03. | |
have to go into charity shops and have a look round and see if there | :10:04. | :10:07. | |
is anything there for me. If it is a special occasion, I do panic quite a | :10:08. | :10:11. | |
lot because I think what can I possibly where? That is ?7.25. Keep | :10:12. | :10:22. | |
on smiling. I you leading the life you hoped you would lead now? No, I | :10:23. | :10:28. | |
did think it'd be nice to h`ve a relaxed retirement where I could sit | :10:29. | :10:37. | |
and enjoy the view. It has been a pleasure talking to you. I wish | :10:38. | :10:42. | |
everybody was exactly like xou. Due you wish you had set money `side? | :10:43. | :10:53. | |
Yes, yes they do. But I didn't so I am stuck with it. | :10:54. | :10:55. | |
Charles and Pat both wish they'd been able to save earlier in life. | :10:56. | :10:58. | |
But a survey for BBC Inside Out has reve`led that | :10:59. | :11:01. | |
almost one in five people don't trust pensions companies and almost | :11:02. | :11:04. | |
as many are looking for othdr ways to save for their old age, | :11:05. | :11:07. | |
Jon Cuthill has been on a road trip to investigate. | :11:08. | :11:23. | |
Previous generations retired at 60, got on with the gardening and were | :11:24. | :11:27. | |
But with life expectancy continuing to rise, even if we retire later, | :11:28. | :11:34. | |
These days most of Britain's workers don't have a pension sorted, | :11:35. | :11:41. | |
which could leave us relying entirely on the state or like our | :11:42. | :11:45. | |
65`year`old bus and its 70`xear`old driver Mervyn, still working. | :11:46. | :11:51. | |
I enjoy it and I'm part of the business. | :11:52. | :11:53. | |
It's a nice job, you meet nice people so while I can, | :11:54. | :11:57. | |
I did invest into a pension but it went down the pan. | :11:58. | :12:05. | |
And where better to meet th`n the Pensioners Pub. | :12:06. | :12:10. | |
Half of our passengers on our 1949 Bedford bus are retired. | :12:11. | :12:14. | |
The other half are pension refuseniks, a handful of Brhtain's | :12:15. | :12:17. | |
13 million company employees who don't have a private pension. | :12:18. | :12:22. | |
The government's rolling out a scheme to try to put that right. | :12:23. | :12:26. | |
Auto enrolment makes it a legal requirement for companies to | :12:27. | :12:32. | |
But if you earn less than ?10,000 you won't qualify. | :12:33. | :12:38. | |
And anyone self`employed will have to sort themselves out. | :12:39. | :12:42. | |
Here's a question for you, who has got a pension? | :12:43. | :12:47. | |
Saving up for a pension, putting money aside each month just | :12:48. | :12:57. | |
I'm Adam Fox, I'm 27 and I'm a senior colour technician. | :12:58. | :13:03. | |
I get paid ?500 a month so there's no extra funds there | :13:04. | :13:07. | |
I'm still doing my studying so it's not beneficial to md to pay | :13:08. | :13:23. | |
Hilda's celebrating her 100th birthday today. | :13:24. | :13:38. | |
These days you're 44 times lore likely to do the same than 60 years | :13:39. | :13:42. | |
ago which has prompted the government to make the most sweeping | :13:43. | :13:45. | |
Time to make room on the bus for Minister of State for Pdnsions | :13:46. | :13:54. | |
Steve Webb, the man responshble for the radical reforms. | :13:55. | :13:58. | |
The first thing we've got to do is get millions of people | :13:59. | :14:00. | |
into a pension at all, parthcularly starting with young people, then | :14:01. | :14:04. | |
8% of your salary, for most people, won't give you | :14:05. | :14:09. | |
It's a start but we've got to build on that. | :14:10. | :14:12. | |
Once you get a pension you're going to be nailed by chargds. | :14:13. | :14:17. | |
In the past, too many people have been rhpped | :14:18. | :14:21. | |
These new workplace pensions will be different because wd're | :14:22. | :14:26. | |
From next April, more than 99 pence in a pound that | :14:27. | :14:31. | |
you put into a pension will go into a pension not into charges | :14:32. | :14:34. | |
So they will be the best value pensions, particularly becatse firms | :14:35. | :14:37. | |
are putting money in as well, one of the best things you can invdst in. | :14:38. | :14:40. | |
With a captive audience Steve Webb can't resist the opportunitx to | :14:41. | :14:43. | |
Tell me about your pension experience? | :14:44. | :14:48. | |
I do weddings and events, things like that and I don't think | :14:49. | :14:55. | |
a return you get from a pension is going to be valid. | :14:56. | :14:58. | |
Instead of a pension he's opted for a buy to let. | :14:59. | :15:01. | |
My property's going to be rdnted out to students in Southampton. | :15:02. | :15:06. | |
A really high student population there. | :15:07. | :15:09. | |
It's right in the centre of town, a wicked location and it's `lways | :15:10. | :15:13. | |
The people who think it is too hard, there is always something | :15:14. | :15:32. | |
that'll make it easier for them search if they work for an dmployer | :15:33. | :15:35. | |
it could be the employer cotld contribute into the pension scheme. | :15:36. | :15:41. | |
Phone people like this and we can give people little hints to make it | :15:42. | :15:46. | |
helpful. Don't rely on one service of income on retirement. Don't just | :15:47. | :15:47. | |
rely on property. Things are different | :15:48. | :16:03. | |
on the retired side of the bus where some have the sort of gold plated | :16:04. | :16:06. | |
final salary schemes that anyone who's signing up to a pension now | :16:07. | :16:09. | |
will probably never get. I don't see myself as being | :16:10. | :16:12. | |
in any way privileged. I see myself as having workdd | :16:13. | :16:14. | |
in public service for a rel`tively reasonable salary but the attraction | :16:15. | :16:17. | |
of it was always the reason`ble My pension is pretty good rdally | :16:18. | :16:20. | |
because it's index linked and I know from year to year exactly what | :16:21. | :16:24. | |
it is I'm probably going to get Recently ?17,000 per household was | :16:25. | :16:54. | |
quoted as the amount needed When you're young you don?t think | :16:55. | :16:59. | |
about 40 years hence, do yot? It creeps up on you until you get | :17:00. | :17:08. | |
to about 45, 50, and you thhnk. side of the bus, you're not alone, | :17:09. | :18:28. | |
there's lots of people like you However, the main message h`s to be | :18:29. | :18:31. | |
if you don't save for your later The state pension, certainlx | :18:32. | :18:36. | |
for those who are relativelx young now, is changing dramatically | :18:37. | :18:42. | |
and from 2016 inwards, younger people will know that when they get | :18:43. | :18:48. | |
to retirement the state pension is Now if you think you'll be happy | :18:49. | :18:54. | |
living on ?20 a day for the rest of your life when you've re`ched | :18:55. | :19:02. | |
retirement, fine don't do anything. So it's all about being prepared, | :19:03. | :19:11. | |
or is it? I was planning to start sorting out | :19:12. | :19:13. | |
my pension at the age 40 whhch, after today, | :19:14. | :19:17. | |
I've realised is far too late. The property is going well so I m | :19:18. | :19:21. | |
happy with how things are going One thing's for certain thotgh, | :19:22. | :19:25. | |
when it comes to keeping our heads above water when we retire we're all | :19:26. | :19:30. | |
going to have to plan ahead. You'd like to think any mondy you do | :19:31. | :19:48. | |
save towards a pension is s`fe, but we ve gone undercover to expose | :19:49. | :19:52. | |
one of the biggest scams When we take out a pension, | :19:53. | :19:55. | |
it's all about securing our future. But what happens if I want to | :19:56. | :20:02. | |
cash mine in before I'm 55? Well according to some | :20:03. | :20:11. | |
companies age is no barrier. In fact that?s what they call it, | :20:12. | :20:14. | |
pension liberation. When John, not his real namd, | :20:15. | :20:20. | |
from Sussex needed to free tp some I'd been unemployed for abott two | :20:21. | :20:24. | |
years hardly earned any mondy. I've got a wife, two kids and, | :20:25. | :20:32. | |
you know, I was struggling really badly financially, in debt, and was | :20:33. | :20:36. | |
basically offered up to 50% of your pension fund before thd age of | :20:37. | :20:41. | |
55 and my main concern when I first heard about it was obviouslx firstly | :20:42. | :20:46. | |
that it was legal and secondly you know that xou | :20:47. | :20:51. | |
weren?t going to get taxed on it. The scheme freed up ?47,000 in cash | :20:52. | :20:55. | |
but John's relief was short lived. First the pensions' regulator | :20:56. | :21:01. | |
and then the high court ruldd he'd taken what?s called | :21:02. | :21:04. | |
an unauthorised payment. I can't tell you how extremdly | :21:05. | :21:08. | |
stressful that was because I'd made great pains to make | :21:09. | :21:12. | |
sure that the loans were legal. I thought it was | :21:13. | :21:19. | |
the only way to get out of The great thing about pensions | :21:20. | :21:21. | |
is that they are tax efficidnt. In other words, we get tax relief | :21:22. | :21:31. | |
on them to encourage us to save And if you try to cash yours | :21:32. | :21:34. | |
in before you're 55, cutting those You'll have to pay up to 70$ | :21:35. | :21:42. | |
of what you get back in tax. You actually cannot take anxthing | :21:43. | :21:54. | |
from your pension until age 55. Now he owes the taxman thousands | :21:55. | :22:08. | |
of pounds. Many of the people here had | :22:09. | :22:26. | |
joined the same scheme. Some, as they've told me, | :22:27. | :22:34. | |
face financial ruin. It's why they formed | :22:35. | :22:36. | |
this support group. The people who were selling these | :22:37. | :22:42. | |
schemes were very, very crafty, very clever, very slick, | :22:43. | :22:45. | |
very convincing and they believed There are numerous people who have | :22:46. | :22:58. | |
said to me, that they somethmes feel the only way out of this misery is | :22:59. | :23:02. | |
to commit suicide because there is no escape. | :23:03. | :23:03. | |
For those of us stuck in a financial hole, freeing up | :23:04. | :23:06. | |
our pension pot might seem like the light at the end of the tunnel. | :23:07. | :23:09. | |
But the people I've met so far say they were kept | :23:10. | :23:12. | |
That's why I?m doing my own research. | :23:13. | :23:15. | |
I want to find out if companies are really telling | :23:16. | :23:17. | |
I can cash my pension in early and not pay tax. | :23:18. | :23:25. | |
So we'll start with the initial pension, ?37,600. | :23:26. | :23:29. | |
Now this company is going to take away a certain amount in feds. | :23:30. | :23:32. | |
What you're left with is ?24,83 which is 68% of your pension. | :23:33. | :23:40. | |
What it doesn't tell you is that HMRC are going to take a further | :23:41. | :23:45. | |
55%, minimum, which leaves xou with about 10% left of your penshon. | :23:46. | :23:52. | |
But are companies setting ott to mislead or just being short | :23:53. | :23:56. | |
I'm hoping a few calls will help me to find out. | :23:57. | :24:02. | |
We've chosen a selection of companies at random and H've | :24:03. | :24:05. | |
asked pensions expert Richard Jacobs to listen in. | :24:06. | :24:09. | |
I'm just wondering if you guys could help? | :24:10. | :24:11. | |
I'm pretending I'm 48, so if I did cash in my penshon there | :24:12. | :24:15. | |
You can't get money out of your pension before the age of 5. | :24:16. | :24:22. | |
So the first company knows the rules. | :24:23. | :24:23. | |
Ok, so you never know, maybe I won't be misled. | :24:24. | :24:29. | |
Operation Scorpion might have something to do with that. | :24:30. | :24:32. | |
It's what the police and pensions regulator are calling | :24:33. | :24:36. | |
their crackdown on pension liberation companies. | :24:37. | :24:37. | |
Since being set up it's invdstigated a sector worth almost half | :24:38. | :24:41. | |
I want to know what Richard thinks of them. | :24:42. | :24:56. | |
I'd just like you to listen and pick out the wrongdoings gohng on. | :24:57. | :25:00. | |
We've made clear I?m under 45 but need cash and fast. | :25:01. | :25:06. | |
The moneys are 20% of the v`lue of your transfer | :25:07. | :25:10. | |
and those moneys are paid b`ck to you through another channel. | :25:11. | :25:14. | |
Effectively you switch your pension fund and you will receive 20% | :25:15. | :25:18. | |
Already you're licking your lips at this. | :25:19. | :25:24. | |
Whoever that business is, if money is coming out it's got to | :25:25. | :25:33. | |
There?s no money magic'd from anywhere | :25:34. | :25:38. | |
but that is pension liberathon whatever name they put on it. | :25:39. | :25:43. | |
In fact, of the nine companhes we contacted online and on the phone, | :25:44. | :25:52. | |
The money is not coming out of the pension fund. That isn't out an | :25:53. | :26:05. | |
outcome. He is going to losd his pension. That is some message. Well | :26:06. | :26:18. | |
the next be just as misleadhng. That is dreadful. | :26:19. | :26:26. | |
In fact, of the nine companhes we contacted online and on the phone, | :26:27. | :26:29. | |
The message we need to get out to consumers is that anybody comes and | :26:30. | :26:51. | |
offers access to your pension scheme before 55 they are telling xou | :26:52. | :26:54. | |
alive. You need to walk awax very fast indeed. But if people `re still | :26:55. | :27:01. | |
being misled, why are the vhctims paying? I'm hoping Ruthann can | :27:02. | :27:08. | |
answer that question. There are some innocent people here being stung | :27:09. | :27:12. | |
left right and centre. You telling me people actually have to pay this | :27:13. | :27:17. | |
back even if they didn't know it in the first place? If there w`s a tax | :27:18. | :27:26. | |
due H M RC has apply. If yot have accessed money from your pension pot | :27:27. | :27:29. | |
that breaks the rules then we do have to charge you the tax because | :27:30. | :27:33. | |
you got tax relief you were not eligible to receive. You will be | :27:34. | :27:38. | |
charged. What is there to protect the consumer? I have seen m`ny | :27:39. | :27:45. | |
cases, really tragic circumstances, where people have been misldd and | :27:46. | :27:50. | |
lost their savings. I do fedl for the people involved. Some are real | :27:51. | :27:53. | |
innocent victims in these situations. But from a tax point of | :27:54. | :27:59. | |
view, we have to do apply the rules equally and fairly and if you have | :28:00. | :28:03. | |
chosen to take your pension out of the safety of the retirement pension | :28:04. | :28:08. | |
pot then tax will apply. A lessened the victims are learning thd hard | :28:09. | :28:21. | |
way. It never leaves you mine. You are never able to relax. Opdration | :28:22. | :28:30. | |
Scorpion is helping to raisd awareness but as you can sed, | :28:31. | :28:32. | |
victims are still getting stung It?s great to hear what you think | :28:33. | :28:39. | |
and your suggestions Next week, the recycling cowboys who | :28:40. | :28:42. | |
employ cows to do the dirty work. Until then, from Inside Out, | :28:43. | :28:51. | |
goodnight. Hello, I'm Ellie Crisell with | :28:52. | :29:05. | |
your 90 second update. There's no return | :29:06. | :29:07. | |
if you decide to leave the UK. | :29:08. | :29:11. |