A Q and A but with me both asking and answering the questions.
Q What's this blog about
A The blog is my attempt to explain to myself and other people how the UK pensions system works.
Q That sounds very dull, why do we need a blog about that
Because having looked around there is very little, useful, free information on this topic. There are government websites that do a decent job, but as far as I can work out the following government departments and bodies have a hand in UK pensions: The Treasury, The Department of Work and Pensions, HM Revenue and Customs, The Prudential Regulatory Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority. Each department deals with pensions from its perspective but there's not much that's joined up to give a view of the whole.
There are specialist websites but these are aimed at pension providers and not the layman. I'm an accountant by profession, so basically, trained to absorb boredom like a sponge, but I find this stuff very heavy going.
There are articles on pensions in the press but generally of a low quality, the aim is to tell a story, not to elucidate.
So I think that, as I get to an age where I'm going to have to get to grips with this stuff, it might be useful for other people if I set out my understanding of how it all works. Hopefully people will chip in with their own experiences and we can all be better informed - for less work.
Q So you know all about pensions?
A No. I'm very much an amateur in the field, I have no professional qualifications, I'm not an independent financial adviser and I'm not giving financial advice. This is a blog about what I'm trying to find out and where I'm trying to find answers. So no, I'm not an expert, no, no and thrice, no.
Q So what do you get out of this
A In part a useful record of what I've found out, and hopefully people who read the blog will help me out and share their knowledge. As I say some of this stuff is complex and dull, so learning it once is bad enough. I'm hoping this will stop me learning it, forgetting it and having to learn it again.
Also like a lot of middle class people I see myself as having (touch wood) a long period of semi retirement. So I'm interested in ways of earning a bit of money in a reasonably pleasant way. I'm wondering whether there might be ways to do this around "the right to advice" announced in the budget. So this blog is a toe in the water for that as well. I might also try advertising on the blog.
Q How often are you going to post
Once a week for 6 months then I'll have a think about what to do. I'll probably post Friday/Saturday/Sunday.
Q Anything else we should know
Er not really. I'm a 47 (soon to be 48 - how did this happen?) accountant living in London, single. I'm not rich, not poor, and you know, pretty happy on the whole.
Q That's great, I'm now massively enthused by pensions, what can I do
Reading the blog is great. Commenting is very welcome and if you would like to sign up for email subscriptions that tells me real people are reading the blog, and that's a boost.
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