Opinion

Members of the small Television South West Pension Scheme have been arguing with the powers that be in the hope they would apply a little lateral thinking to its £228,000 Pension Protection levy bill problem. But to no avail.

As 2009 winds down, it's refreshing to see pension funds beginning to put risk back on the table, tentative as they may be.

The government and pensions minister Angela Eagle are adamant personal accounts will go ahead in their current form.

This week has been full of suggestions for change in the pensions industry.

Deciding to enter an occupational pension scheme is a big issue and many people feel that once they've started paying contributions then their retirement planning is done.

Jean-Baptiste Colbert - the French minister of finance under King Louis XIV - is said to have observed "the art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest amount of feathers with the least possible amount of hissing".

Last week I spent part of my holiday visiting Blackpool's illuminations.

Last week the government launched a pilot programme to offer children as young as seven careers guidance.

It has taken the worst financial crisis in decades, but policymakers are finally taking a long, hard look at exactly what they've offered retirees.

Just as I was becoming jaded by the number of companies trying to drum up free publicity by releasing surveys or figures pointing to the drawn out death of defined benefit pensions, along came refreshing research from Hewitt, which showed most companies...