Browse content similar to 15/09/2014. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Beware of the pension piratds that could cost you dear. | :00:00. | :00:15. | |
USwitch pension fund and yot will receive 20% of the value of your | :00:16. | :00:21. | |
investment. `` if you switch your pension front. | :00:22. | :00:21. | |
And we?re asking, is it ever too late to start filling | :00:22. | :00:24. | |
We give the women of Stoke on Trent a financial MOT. | :00:25. | :00:32. | |
Have you got anything planndd? Have you thought about a pension? No | :00:33. | :00:38. | |
I?m Andy Akinwolere and this is Inside Out. | :00:39. | :00:51. | |
But first tonight, Inside Out's been digging down into | :00:52. | :00:54. | |
some of the reasons so many people don?t have a private pension. | :00:55. | :00:56. | |
In fact, we commissioned an exclusive survey. | :00:57. | :01:03. | |
So, 39% of people who took part in our exclusive survey, they thought | :01:04. | :01:10. | |
it was too expensive. 28% thought they were too young. 27% hadn't even | :01:11. | :01:15. | |
thought about it. But there is another reason. Many people simply | :01:16. | :01:22. | |
do not trust pension companhes. I went undercover to expose one of the | :01:23. | :01:25. | |
When we take out a pension, it?s all about securing our future. | :01:26. | :01:31. | |
But what happens if I want to cash mine in before I?m 55? | :01:32. | :01:59. | |
Well according to some comp`nies age is no barrier ? sounds liberating! | :02:00. | :02:02. | |
In fact that's what they call it ? pension liberation. | :02:03. | :02:04. | |
When John ` not his real nale ? needed to free up some cash, | :02:05. | :02:08. | |
I had been unemployed with hardly any money. I had a family and was | :02:09. | :02:14. | |
struggling badly. I was in debt It offered up to 50% off your pension | :02:15. | :02:21. | |
fund. That was before the age of 55. My main concern was that firstly | :02:22. | :02:28. | |
that it was legal and secondly that you were not going to get t`xed The | :02:29. | :02:41. | |
scheme freed up cash but thd joy was short`lived. I cannot tell xou how | :02:42. | :02:47. | |
extremely stressful it was. I have made great pains to make sure the | :02:48. | :02:54. | |
loans were legal. I thought it was the only way of getting out of my | :02:55. | :02:58. | |
financial quagmire at the thme. But it was about to get worse. The great | :02:59. | :03:06. | |
thing about pensions is that they are tax deficient. We get t`x relief | :03:07. | :03:11. | |
to encourage us to phase `` save, but there are strings attached. If | :03:12. | :03:16. | |
you try to cash is in beford you are 55, cutting those strings whll cost | :03:17. | :03:21. | |
you a fortune. You have to pay up to 70% of what you get back in tax | :03:22. | :03:39. | |
Reputable companies make th`t clear. You actually can't take anything | :03:40. | :03:44. | |
from your pension until age 55. It is important people know th`t. But | :03:45. | :03:50. | |
John, not his real name, didn't Now he owes the taxman thousands of | :03:51. | :03:55. | |
pounds. The ramifications for me and my family are horrendous. It could | :03:56. | :04:00. | |
potentially ruin my life. John is not alone. Many of the people here | :04:01. | :04:03. | |
have joined the same scheme. Some, as they have to face financhal ruin. | :04:04. | :04:08. | |
It is why they formed the stpport group. The people who are sdlling | :04:09. | :04:14. | |
these schemes are very crafty and clever, very slick, very convincing. | :04:15. | :04:19. | |
They believe them. That is the tragedy. What is the emotional | :04:20. | :04:24. | |
impact? It has been devastating There are numerous people who have | :04:25. | :04:28. | |
said to me that they sometiles feel the only way out of the misdry is to | :04:29. | :04:31. | |
commit suicide because therd is no escape. For those of us stuck in a | :04:32. | :04:39. | |
financial hole, freeing up the pension pot might seem like the | :04:40. | :04:42. | |
light at the end of the tunnel but the people I have met so far say | :04:43. | :04:45. | |
they were kept in the dark `bout tax. That is why I am doing my own | :04:46. | :04:51. | |
research. I want to find out if copies are really telling pdople age | :04:52. | :04:55. | |
doesn't matter. I can cash ly pension in early, not pay t`x. We | :04:56. | :05:02. | |
will start with the initial pension, 37,600. This company will | :05:03. | :05:07. | |
take away a certain amount of fees. What you are left with is 24,00 , | :05:08. | :05:15. | |
68%. What it doesn't tell you is that HMRC are going to also take a | :05:16. | :05:22. | |
further 55%, minimum, which leaves you about 10% of your pension. That | :05:23. | :05:29. | |
is a frightening thought. Otr company `` are companies setting out | :05:30. | :05:34. | |
to mislead or just short on facts? I am hoping a few calls will help me | :05:35. | :05:38. | |
find out. We have chosen a selection of companies at random and H have | :05:39. | :05:42. | |
asked a pensions expert to listen in. I was wondering whether you guys | :05:43. | :05:47. | |
could help. I am pretending to be 48. If I did cash in my pension | :05:48. | :05:53. | |
there would be taxed to pay. You can't take money out of the pension | :05:54. | :05:56. | |
before the age of 55. The fhrst company knows the rules, so, maybe I | :05:57. | :06:05. | |
will not be misled. Operation Scorpion might have | :06:06. | :06:09. | |
something to do without. It is what the police and pensions regtlators | :06:10. | :06:12. | |
are calling their crackdown on page liberation companies. It has | :06:13. | :06:17. | |
investigated a sector worth almost half a sector worth almost half a | :06:18. | :06:22. | |
billion pounds. Are its tactics working? We have been making a few | :06:23. | :06:25. | |
more calls. I want to know what Richard thinks. | :06:26. | :06:28. | |
I would like you to listen `nd try and pick out the wrongdoing that is | :06:29. | :06:33. | |
going on. We have made it clear I am tnder 55 | :06:34. | :06:36. | |
that need cash, and fast. The monies generated are 20$ of the | :06:37. | :06:47. | |
value of your transfer and `re paid back to you through another | :06:48. | :06:50. | |
channel. Effectively, you switch your pension fund and you whll | :06:51. | :06:53. | |
receive 20% of the value of your investment. You are shaking your | :06:54. | :06:57. | |
head already and licking yotr lips at this! What are we hearing? A | :06:58. | :07:06. | |
scam. Whoever that businessds, if money is coming out, it has got to | :07:07. | :07:09. | |
come from somewhere. There hs no money magic. That is pension | :07:10. | :07:14. | |
liberation, whatever name they put on it. | :07:15. | :07:20. | |
He knows I am under 55, so H will have to pay tax, right? No, because | :07:21. | :07:26. | |
the money is not coming out of the pension fund. No tax liabilhty? That | :07:27. | :07:34. | |
is an out and out con. He is going to lose his pension. That c`se, he | :07:35. | :07:39. | |
is good to lose his pension. Wow, that is some message. Will the next | :07:40. | :07:47. | |
be just as misleading? We c`n get you 20% cashback with no li`bility | :07:48. | :07:52. | |
whatsoever. That is dreadful. Of the nine countries we contacted and | :07:53. | :07:57. | |
online `` maenad on the phone, four gave misleading advice. That has | :07:58. | :08:01. | |
left me feeling as miserabld as the weather, so what is the pensions | :08:02. | :08:05. | |
regulator doing? We have rahsed awareness with the police. The | :08:06. | :08:09. | |
important thing is to raise awareness with consumers. I think it | :08:10. | :08:13. | |
would be a 0`sum game if we try to sit `` shut down every webshte. If | :08:14. | :08:20. | |
anyone comes to you and offdrs you access to your pension before 5 , | :08:21. | :08:23. | |
they are telling you a lie. You need to walk away very fast indedd. | :08:24. | :08:31. | |
Yeah, and told the victims `nd their advisers know it. I am playhng them | :08:32. | :08:37. | |
something they really need to hear. The money is generated at 20% of the | :08:38. | :08:41. | |
value of your fans were on those monies are paid back through another | :08:42. | :08:46. | |
channel. How does that make you feel? The same spiel over and over | :08:47. | :08:52. | |
again. I am horrified it is still continuing. It is just shocking The | :08:53. | :09:00. | |
per consumer does not know the suffering. I couldn't believe what I | :09:01. | :09:04. | |
was listening to today. It was a complete codswallop. If people are | :09:05. | :09:09. | |
still being misled, why are the victims paying? I am hoping Ruth | :09:10. | :09:14. | |
Owen can answer that question. She is the director`general of personal | :09:15. | :09:19. | |
tax and Revenue and Customs. There are people being stung left, right | :09:20. | :09:24. | |
and centre. Do people actually have to pay this money back even if they | :09:25. | :09:27. | |
did not know about it in thd first this? If there is tax due, HMRC has | :09:28. | :09:34. | |
to apply it. That is the wax the tax system works. If you have access | :09:35. | :09:37. | |
money from your pension pot that breaks tax rules we have thd charge | :09:38. | :09:42. | |
of the tax because you have got tax relief you were not eligibld to | :09:43. | :09:46. | |
receive. You will be charged. What is there to protect the consumer and | :09:47. | :09:50. | |
the pretence `` pension holder? I have seen many cases where there are | :09:51. | :09:56. | |
really tragic circumstances where people have been misled and lost | :09:57. | :09:59. | |
their retirement savings and I feel for the people involved. Sole are | :10:00. | :10:03. | |
real innocent victims in thhs situation. But from a tax point of | :10:04. | :10:08. | |
view, we have to apply the rule equally and fairly and if you have | :10:09. | :10:12. | |
chosen to take your pension out of the safety of retirement pension | :10:13. | :10:15. | |
pots, tax will apply. A lesson the victims are le`rning | :10:16. | :10:22. | |
the hard way. And never leaves your mind. Every single day you think | :10:23. | :10:29. | |
about it. It is very bad. You know, you are just a able to relax. | :10:30. | :10:34. | |
Operation Scorpion is helping to raise awareness but as the dvidence | :10:35. | :10:42. | |
shows, new victims are still getting stung. | :10:43. | :10:53. | |
If you aren't, head over to our website. `` if you are worrhed, head | :10:54. | :11:03. | |
over to our website for mord pension advice. Or you can drop me `n | :11:04. | :11:07. | |
e`mail. It would be good to hear from you. | :11:08. | :11:12. | |
Coming up next, we are on the road with the pension haves and have | :11:13. | :11:18. | |
nots as we investigate the potential pensions time bomb. | :11:19. | :11:28. | |
Previous generations retired at 60, got on with the gardening and were | :11:29. | :11:31. | |
But with life expectancy continuing to rise, even if we retire later, | :11:32. | :11:44. | |
These days, most of Britain?s workers don?t have a pension sorted, | :11:45. | :11:47. | |
which could leave us relying entirely on the state, or lhke our | :11:48. | :11:49. | |
65`year`old bus and its 70`xear`old driver, Mervyn, still working. | :11:50. | :11:59. | |
I enjoy it. It is a nice job, you meet nice people. I did invdst into | :12:00. | :12:07. | |
a pension, but it went down the pan. Where better to meet than | :12:08. | :12:11. | |
the Pensioners' Pub? Half of our passengers | :12:12. | :12:14. | |
on our 1949 Bedford are rethred The other half are pension | :12:15. | :12:17. | |
refuseniks ` a handful of Britain?s 13 million company employees who | :12:18. | :12:20. | |
don?t have a private pension. The Government?s rolling out | :12:21. | :12:25. | |
a scheme to try to put that right. Hilda?s celebrating her | :12:26. | :12:29. | |
100th birthday today. These days you?re 44 times lore | :12:30. | :13:41. | |
likely to do the same than 60 years ago, which has prompted the | :13:42. | :13:45. | |
Government to make the most sweeping My pension is ?640. Between them, | :13:46. | :13:47. | |
that?s an income Recently, ?17,000 per person was | :13:48. | :17:27. | |
quoted as the amount needed When you?re young you don?t think | :17:28. | :17:37. | |
about 40 years hence, do yot? It sort of creeps up on you and then | :17:38. | :17:49. | |
you get to 45`50 and you thhnk? ah. We don?t take life too seriously | :17:50. | :17:56. | |
because, I think if we did, Joan?s 93 and has been retired | :17:57. | :17:59. | |
for 30 years. She thinks there?s been a ctltural | :18:00. | :18:18. | |
shift towards spending now rather I don?t think people know how to | :18:19. | :18:20. | |
save ? they?ve never had to make As the Pensions Special rolls down | :18:21. | :18:25. | |
the promenade, time for somd words of warning for those of us who might | :18:26. | :18:31. | |
still have our heads in the sand. The majority | :18:32. | :18:38. | |
of workers don?t have pension savings, so anyone on that side | :18:39. | :18:39. | |
of the bus, but the main message is if you don?t save for your later | :18:40. | :18:43. | |
life what are you going to live on? So, it?s all about being prdpared, | :18:44. | :19:05. | |
or is it? I was planning to start sorting | :19:06. | :19:07. | |
out my pension age 40. Sooner the better ` that?s what I?ve | :19:08. | :19:10. | |
taken away from today. I think we?re just like livd | :19:11. | :19:13. | |
for today because you never know One thing?s for certain, though | :19:14. | :19:16. | |
when it comes to keeping our heads above water when we retire, we?re | :19:17. | :19:25. | |
all going to have to plan ahead So, what if, | :19:26. | :19:28. | |
like some of Jon?s fellow passengers, you haven?t sorted out | :19:29. | :19:40. | |
your pension and you?re worried Mary Rhodes set up a one`stop | :19:41. | :19:42. | |
pensions shop here in Stoke on Trent Who wouldn?t want their savhngs | :19:43. | :19:48. | |
secured for a rosy retirement? But with bills to pay, | :19:49. | :20:01. | |
families to raise and jobs to hold Like it or not, we?re all hdading | :20:02. | :20:04. | |
in the same direction and there are worrying signs ahead, | :20:05. | :20:15. | |
particularly for young women. Women live longer, deeper and less. | :20:16. | :20:34. | |
They might take time out of the workplace to raise a family. Women | :20:35. | :20:39. | |
find it more off`putting and don't engage in pensions as much `s men | :20:40. | :20:41. | |
do. One in five women retiring this year | :20:42. | :20:42. | |
will get no more than the annual There?s no getting around it ` | :20:43. | :20:45. | |
men are ahead in the queue for a comfortable retirement. To shed some | :20:46. | :20:53. | |
light on the problem, we surveyed over 2,000 18 to 60`year`olds | :20:54. | :20:56. | |
and found only half of them were When we asked why, | :20:57. | :20:59. | |
affordability was the top answer. It?s not because they?re running | :21:00. | :21:07. | |
around spending everything they It?s because they?ve got jobs where | :21:08. | :21:10. | |
they can?t join a pension scheme at the moment, or they?re maybd caring | :21:11. | :21:14. | |
for somebody or they?re out of work. I mean there are good reasons | :21:15. | :21:20. | |
why women aren?t able to save. Money expert Sarah Pennells is going | :21:21. | :21:26. | |
to help us find some real lhfe But pensions can be a bit | :21:27. | :21:29. | |
of a conversation killer, so we ve invited some friends from Stoke on | :21:30. | :21:36. | |
Trent College to add a bit of colour So we?re ready to go and for you | :21:37. | :21:39. | |
to impart your pearls of wisdom Who should I be looking out for | :21:40. | :21:45. | |
this pension make`over we?vd got? Well, when it comes to penshons | :21:46. | :21:48. | |
the earlier you start saving the better it is because yot?ve got | :21:49. | :21:51. | |
more time for your money to build up and you have to save less every | :21:52. | :21:55. | |
month, so I guess women So, it pays to put your back | :21:56. | :21:57. | |
into saving early. Research suggests people?s hdea | :21:58. | :22:03. | |
of a perfect pension is arotnd To get that, you?d have to start | :22:04. | :22:05. | |
shoveling in a ?1,000 a month It?s time to drum up some btsiness | :22:06. | :22:13. | |
and Sarah?s going to listen in. Have you thought much about your | :22:14. | :22:29. | |
pension when you?re going to retire? Some people, unfortunately, | :22:30. | :22:39. | |
run a mile as soon as you mention the word 'pension' | :22:40. | :22:43. | |
and you can never catch thel. So, | :22:44. | :22:45. | |
you think it?s a bit far ahdad yet? This is the crucial moment ` | :22:46. | :22:48. | |
she?s mentioning the free pension information | :22:49. | :22:50. | |
and make`over, so let?s see if she wants to take us up on it or whether | :22:51. | :22:52. | |
she?d rather run for the hills. Would you be up for it, | :22:53. | :22:57. | |
about 10 minutes or so? This is where it gets a bit risky | :22:58. | :22:59. | |
when you?re guessing somebody?s age. This lady coming now, she looks a | :23:00. | :23:10. | |
bit harassed, but I?ll give it a go. I wonder whether Mary will have any | :23:11. | :23:17. | |
more luck now with somebody else. Excuse me, | :23:18. | :23:22. | |
really sorry to bother you. We?re from the BBC, we?re doing | :23:23. | :23:24. | |
a piece about women and mondy and particularly about pensions, which | :23:25. | :23:27. | |
isn?t particularly sexy, I know Is it something you?ve | :23:28. | :23:35. | |
thought about? Well, I know retirement seels | :23:36. | :23:37. | |
a long way off at your age ` Have you ever thought | :23:38. | :23:51. | |
about having a pension? Right, I think you could be | :23:52. | :23:55. | |
a really good person to havd. With our three volunteers shtting | :23:56. | :24:04. | |
comfortably, it?s time to t`lk shop. When I was working I knew that I | :24:05. | :24:07. | |
had one then, but then I?ve had But I?ve never thought about it | :24:08. | :24:13. | |
whether it?s carried There are lots of different | :24:14. | :24:18. | |
issues around the table. 40`year`old Cathy?s had to put | :24:19. | :24:25. | |
work and her company pension on It?s a tough one, but Sarah?s | :24:26. | :24:27. | |
homed in on the pension pot Cathy There is a free to use Government | :24:28. | :24:33. | |
scheme ` it?s called the Pension Tracing Service and that?s | :24:34. | :24:39. | |
a really good starting point. That?s normally enough, | :24:40. | :24:51. | |
if you know when you worked there, you need your National Insurance | :24:52. | :24:53. | |
number things like that. It?s a start | :24:54. | :24:57. | |
and Sarah says there?s still time It?s really hard to make | :24:58. | :24:59. | |
the money stretch, never mind saving, but just think | :25:00. | :25:05. | |
you could be retired for 20 years or more and just try and think, | :25:06. | :25:09. | |
is there anything I can try and save Can I just put aside some money just | :25:10. | :25:12. | |
every week or any month Yeah, sort of, I never thought about | :25:13. | :25:18. | |
it until you pulled us up today A recent survey found | :25:19. | :25:32. | |
similar answers. When asked three`quarters | :25:33. | :25:34. | |
of women didn?t know how much they?d In today?s money, in rough terms, | :25:35. | :25:36. | |
if you get the full state pdnsion But it?s a sobering sum, | :25:37. | :25:42. | |
particularly for 30`year`old Claire. The mum`of`two hasn?t got | :25:43. | :25:51. | |
a private pension and she?s out of I wont be having my nails done then, | :25:52. | :25:54. | |
will I?! Well, I?ve got two children as well, | :25:55. | :26:04. | |
so, obviously, when I am employed, it would be definitely something | :26:05. | :26:11. | |
I?d look into, definitely. Now, would it be something xou would | :26:12. | :26:13. | |
have looked into Claire?s sister Kirsty is | :26:14. | :26:15. | |
in a better position. At 28, | :26:16. | :26:22. | |
she?s already paying into a work I work for the council so it just | :26:23. | :26:24. | |
automatically comes out my wage That?s one of the great things | :26:25. | :26:36. | |
about it being done for you ` if No, I hadn?t really thought | :26:37. | :26:49. | |
about it until now, really. It sounds like we?ve | :26:50. | :26:56. | |
really stirred things up. All three admit they find pdnsions | :26:57. | :26:58. | |
confusing, but Sarah?s summdd things If you return to work after a break, | :26:59. | :27:01. | |
don?t forget about your rethrement. Work out what you want to rdtire | :27:02. | :27:16. | |
on and keep tabs on your pension pot That leaves just one last qtestion ` | :27:17. | :27:20. | |
have we converted them? So, how are you all thinking | :27:21. | :27:27. | |
about the whole pension thing now compared with when I first chased | :27:28. | :27:30. | |
you down the street? Obviously, | :27:31. | :27:35. | |
it?ll be a bit higher on my agenda And then I need to look | :27:36. | :27:37. | |
at the sums and not just file it away so I can find out what I?m | :27:38. | :27:46. | |
getting because that ?20 isn?t going You need to make sure you?rd saving, | :27:47. | :27:49. | |
but again I didn?t think of it Some good advice and you?ve got | :27:50. | :27:55. | |
some lovely shiny nails, as well! So, that was Inside Out for the | :27:56. | :28:03. | |
West Midlands for this week. Remember, if you?ve got any pension | :28:04. | :28:11. | |
worries head to our website: Week, the team go to look at the | :28:12. | :28:39. | |
rich film and TV heritage in the Midlands. | :28:40. | :28:59. | |
Hello, I'm Ellie Crisell with your 90 second update. | :29:00. | :29:01. | |
There's no return if you decide to leave the UK. | :29:02. | :29:05. |