Pension consultants getting younger all the time!

A good day. A very good day.

My chum Andy is back and gives some interesting thoughts on private equity investing for pensions youtube.com/playlist?lis...

Look whose house in London I just walked past. Only the most important physicist between Newton and Einstein. Distilled all electric and magnetic phenomena into one neat set of equations. Realised light is a disturbance rippling through the invisible electric and magnetic fields of empty space.

A fascinating UK pensions job for someone but note the 11 April deadline! Worth sharing round the friends of pensions BlueSky? @stevewebb1.bsky.social @henrytapper.bsky.social @pensionsdave.bsky.social @prospectpension.bsky.social @stephawthorne.bsky.social @jonstapleton.bsky.social

As tonight’s #SnowMoon is clouded out, here is a previous February (2020) moonrise over the golden dome of Eastbourne Pier during the evening starling murmurations

AI search engines are more often wrong than correct when providing information. The premium ones are EVEN MORE wrong! www.cjr.org/tow_center/w...

Sunday morning vibes for you all youtu.be/nMuTgStG8w0?...

googled him with such vigour and urgency that I typed "crdanial pizzaballa"

All this talk of Gulf of America… now have this song on repeat in my head youtu.be/QqPs2OjGrYY?... Definitely doesn’t scan as well Trump’s way.

#alwaysapensionsangle here we go. Elon addressing pensions admin. What’s his view on microfiche?

YES!!! I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL!!! Nonplussed does not mean ‘not bothered’, it means the exact opposite!!!

Hey, I am looking for your questions around pensions for next week’s Money Box Live. Maybe you’re 18 and wondering what age to start, maybe you’re 50 and getting a bit anxious. Maybe you want to check your investments are ethical. Maybe something else entirely! Email me [email protected]

Fascinating conversation with former pensions minister Paul Maynard and co-host @pensionssimon.bsky.social. Excellent stuff. youtu.be/1eZHidjM8jQ?...

And we're available for new TV programmes that discuss pensions in the news 🗞️ Reasonable rates...no need for single coloured M&Ms...

The latest Pensions in 10 with my chum @pensionssimon.bsky.social plus a hat tip to @martinlewis.moneysavingexpert.com for his pensions coverage 👍 youtu.be/heT4Fdel5e0?...

Near retirement? There’s a huge tax trap to avoid when withdrawing from a pension. This is my simple video analogy but always get 1-on-1 free guidance from PensionWise first. This is just a titbit, watch my full Pension special on @itvmlshow.bsky.social: www.itv.com/watch/the-ma...

Growth isn’t about abstract figures that only matter to economists. Growing the economy is how we get wages up and public services delivering in Wales and across the UK. The Chancellor is right. It’s time we get building again.

Pensions in 10 with me and @pensionssimon.bsky.social keeping up with the world of pensions. youtu.be/lZ5Qx8_WdFE?...

A new piece from me for @ftadviser.bsky.social on financial education. Why does it have such little impact, and what can we do about it? www.ftadviser.com/diversity-in...

Robyn and I did our first Hyrox at the weekend. On for our target time but an injury near the end messed that up. We’ll be back. Unfinished business. #hyrox

What a world we live in.

Is this use of surplus without risking member security and keeping the scheme going? Run on with wings. Return of the public sector consolidator?

I can't decide what's more terrifying: 1. the nightmare news that *0.33%* of our millionaires have left the country, or 2. the horrifying tidings that ***0.5%** of pupils have left the private sector. (h/t @samfr.bsky.social) It's almost as bad as the bond market-driven collapse of our economy.

An early contender for headline of the year…

Two things... They still have to pay tax on UK assets no matter where they live, and... 10k is a very small figure compared to how many millionaires reside in the UK.

you have to ask - again - whether they understand that 10,000 is a barely significant rounding error in a country with 3 million millionaires

I am sure we’ve all forgotten about the credit crunch.

Latest pensions in 10 with @pensionssimon.bsky.social and I covering the top pensions stories youtu.be/maS4y1HbVjI?...

Much has been said about Spielberg’s uncanny ability to tell a story within a frame and set up geography, and usually folks use his long oners as examples of this talent. But here’s an innocuous 26-second-long shot from “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” (1989) that does all those things.

I think there is a decent argument that the best response from the CX to higher gilt yields at the Spring Statement would be to not respond. Publish the new forecasts and promise to respond at the Autumn budget. Shouldn’t get into the habit of multiple in-year changes in fiscal policy.

Latest Pensions in 10 and the first of 2025 together with @pensionssimon.bsky.social youtu.be/AfCkAgPVueU?...

Rachel Reeves has said she wants pension funds to “learn lessons from the Canadian model.” Those lessons, she hopes, could inspire a gush of money into British infrastructure and fast-growing businesses. But might the real lessons from Canada look quite different? www.ft.com/content/7938...

Some good news from the southern tip of Africa: life expectancy is on the up again after the Aids crisis. Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/1hmbkvz/oc_life_expectancy_rebounds_from_the_aids_crisis/#lightbox

Mesmerised by this quote.

To help brighten up the return to work here's me, @pensionsdave.bsky.social and a whole load of outtakes from our #podcast #PensionsIn10 www.linkedin.com/posts/thebro...

Great anecdote here from former FT editor Richard Lambert on the time Manmohan Singh came to the FT to talk with him and Martin Wolf. H/T @andymukherjee70.bsky.social

What if we don’t really have free will? Terrific, thoughtful column by @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social on a terrific, thoughtful book:

ADVENTURER: Dragon! We are here for your gold! Prepare to die! DRAGON: My gold? ADVENTURER: Yes! We climbed this great mountain, swam it's flooded caverns and- DRAGON: Fair enough ADVENTURER: Wait, what? DRAGON: It's yours ADVENTURER: DRAGON: How are you carrying it out of here? ADVENTURER: Um... /1

Small pockets of hard to explain longevity? No, it’s just people claiming dead relatives’ pensions, says researcher bit.ly/3BQE7iD

This in The Times is designed to alarm wealthy people, which is why this front page article has been written by a political correspondent and not by an education or business journalist. Private schools aren't collapsing & 3,000 more children in state schools is just a normal day. Literal non-story.

It’s time for the annual posting of this Private Eye cartoon by Dave. Festive greetings to all English teachers.

What if we put a pool on the moon? Watch the latest What If? video collaboration with Minute Earth! www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIIB...

Christmas Eve stroll

Here's what Ange said to Sky Sports last night in full. It's one of the great post match interviews. Here's a man who believes with every fibre that football should be entertainment. There's also value, even for people with no interest at all, in how he deals with individual mistakes

He died as he lived, clicking “Forgot password,” then checking his inbox for a code, then putting in that code, then setting up two-step verification, and then waiting for the text message that doesn’t come, and then calling the 800 number, and then downloading an authenticator app, and dying.

Govt. response on phase 2 much as could be expected “…. we are committed to a second phase focused on retirement adequacy, of which we will provide further details in due course.” There is a slight hint (no more) in the follow up that the DWP might be keener than HMT on making progress.