Then in August this year, the Serious Fraud Office warned of yet another investment scam involving storage units, which has taken £120m out of people’s savings, including their pensions.
Intelligent Pensions’ Ms Tait comments: “Unadvised individuals are more likely to be taken in by a pension scam, which could result in their lifetime savings being unsuitably invested or even lost.”
This is why she advocates using advice, to help people get put into an appropriate structure, such as a blended solution, that will match their income needs and, with the adviser’s keen eye, be able to “recognise the danger signs when an investment is simply too good to be true”.
In September, pension provider Just suggested pensions advice should be automatically defaulted to Pension Wise, so that every single person at the point of retirement would automatically at least have to have information from the government service.
According to a spokesman for LV=, this is not such a bad idea. The spokesman says: “We believe for those choosing not to take advice, taking guidance from services such as Pension Wise should be the default option.
“Non-advised products must be sold within a framework that ensures consumers taking this route fully understand the product and risks associated with it.”
simoney.kyriakou@ft.com
