LONDON, 3 September, 2014: RetireEasy, which created the UK’s leading financial planning software program for retirees, has appointed Tony Watts OBE as a board director. Mr Watts, who was awarded an OBE earlier this year for his voluntary work on behalf of older people, chairs the South West Forum on Ageing and helps steer the […]

This was the message delivered to journalists by the pensions minister Steve Webb last week and perhaps a signal that the Government are a little worried that within a month of the Election a pensions fiasco could develop in April when customers request to cash-in their pension plans and the pension providers refuse to do […]

Yes it’s General Election year again, writes Tony Watts OBE. And, as we know, Older People are the demographic that can be expected to vote in numbers. So expect the “ante” to be cranked up between here and May. But what ARE the issues that will sway the grey vote? There is often a suspicion […]

New analysis from Age UK has warned of “significant numbers of people running out of money” in retirement. So could the free online retirement planner from RetireEasy.co.uk help many avoid falling into that trap? By Tony Watts OBE, Director of RetireEasy.co.uk.   Research from Age UK (published 10 January) reveals that the long awaited pension […]

Steve Webb became the coalition Government’s pensions minister after winning his seat for the Lib Dems at Thornbury & Yate at the 2010 General Election and since then he has trail-blazed his way through the entire UK pensions system, writes Mark Soper.

Traditionally, our home has represented the asset that we could pass down to our children. It’s probably time to forget that, writes Tony Watts OBE The last few years have seen a sea change in the way we regard our homes. Yes, they have always represented one of the biggest financial achievements we aspired to […]

How can we make use of our biggest asset to make our retirement comfortable and enjoyable? By Tony Watts OBE. It would be nice to think that we will have enough coming in through our pensions to keep us comfortable in retirement. Alternatively, that we will have capital put aside to get by. But, for […]

You would have needed to be on the moon to avoid all the news about the radical pension changes that have been announced over the last few months! With further changes announced in the Autumn Statement the new pensions landscape from next April whilst ultimately far more flexible is also a lot more complex, writes […]

…so let’s get our heads around flexible working… and self employment. Major shifts in demographics are changing the way we look upon retirement, writes Tony Watts OBE. So what are the implications for our financial plans? I was part of a stimulating two-day gathering recently in London where several hundred people discussed the concept that […]

The new pension flexibility first announced in this year’s Budget was seen as a game changer by many in the pensions industry, yet the change in the rules only impact DC (Defined Contribution) pension arrangements such as Personal Pension Plans, Money Purchase Occupational Pensions and Stakeholder Pension plans. This creates a dilemma for some approaching […]