Statements

[derricksmyth]

Mine is zero (gulp)?

I suspect high inflation, Putin and the resulting inter-linked Global Economy is the answer Freespeech.

Mine has always appeared as zero for the NRA 60 part of this statement as I think this primarily deals with the NRA 65 part. I see the cash balance has gone up to £16 000 odd

[tractorboy2]

Anyone know if you have already taken some DBCBS whether that is accounted for in latest statement?

[milly]

Don't expect your Pension to do much in the future, I believe most of it is invested in debt instruments and we are in the greatest debt bubble in human history.
The Pound is pretty much Toilet paper.

[RobertT]

Anyone know if you have already taken some DBCBS whether that is accounted for in latest statement?

Assuming you took some of your DBCBS(with your NRA60) before 31st March 2022, then it really should be accounted for.

If you compare previous statements, I would have thought it would be fairly easy to see whether it has been or not?

[RobertT]

Don't expect your Pension to do much in the future, I believe most of it is invested in debt instruments and we are in the greatest debt bubble in human history.
The Pound is pretty much Toilet paper.

It's designed to increase with inflation each year, up to a max of 5% and always has been.

It's a final/career average salary scheme and is no different to other such schemes – they all do basically the same thing.

I'm not sure anyone expects the RMSPS or RMPP schemes to do something they're not designed to do?

Everyone has the choice to transfer out their RMPP benefits to DC if they want to(assuming you can find a friendly IFA). That may be a better option for some, it may not be for others.

[milly]

Don't expect your Pension to do much in the future, I believe most of it is invested in debt instruments and we are in the greatest debt bubble in human history.
The Pound is pretty much Toilet paper.

It's designed to increase with inflation each year, up to a max of 5% and always has been.

It's a final/career average salary scheme and is no different to other such schemes – they all do basically the same thing.

I'm not sure anyone expects the RMSPS or RMPP schemes to do something they're not designed to do?

Everyone has the choice to transfer out their RMPP benefits to DC if they want to(assuming you can find a friendly IFA). That may be a better option for some, it may not be for others.

And what happens if the Pensions assets lose value?

[BenacreNick]

Not the perfect answer Milly, but a few interesting snippets of info here :-

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/pen ... etire.html

Also Milly, if you are young then a pension is a long game investment, and if you are near to retirement scenario, then i think i read somewhere about your pot being taken out of riskier investments and shielded.

I would ask for RobertT to help with clarification and adjust anything I've written that may be untrue, or to validate the correct bits of information that i have attempted to give.

[BenacreNick]

On a side note Milly, the RMPP Trustee Report does illustrate that there is enough money available in the pot for everyone to have their pension paid out to them.

Contributions paid in were double the benefits and payments out.
Plus growth in the value of the assets was almost equal to the contributions.

Pensions.helpline@royalmail.com
Royalmsilpensionplan.co.uk

[BenacreNick]

On a side note Milly, the RMPP Trustee Report does illustrate that there is enough money available in the pot for everyone to have their pension paid out to them.

Contributions paid in were double the benefits and payments out.
Plus growth in the value of the assets was almost equal to the contributions.

Pensions.helpline@royalmail.com
Royalmailpensionplan.co.uk

[Dorset Plodder]

Clear as mud to me .... but then I'm just a thicky.

They do seem to make an attempt to explain it clearly, as for a child, but I still struggle to make any sense out of it.

As others have posted it's not an ideal situation to have statements from several different organisations.

As a side bar to this discussion ... I wonder if is there anything to worry about a Hostile takeover of RM by VESA? In the past we've all read accounts of Pension Funds being "Raided" by Predatory Assett Strippers.

[BenacreNick]

What this RMPP benefit illustration does do is bring FlexiplanAVC's back to the front of people's minds once again.

I think people will be re-evaluating their Pension document and look for ways of boosting their retirement investment, also with Flexiplan AVC's, you yourself have greater control over where and the type of your money is invested, ie. growth, balanced, cautious, cash and so on.

[RobertT]

Don't expect your Pension to do much in the future, I believe most of it is invested in debt instruments and we are in the greatest debt bubble in human history.
The Pound is pretty much Toilet paper.

It's designed to increase with inflation each year, up to a max of 5% and always has been.

It's a final/career average salary scheme and is no different to other such schemes – they all do basically the same thing.

I'm not sure anyone expects the RMSPS or RMPP schemes to do something they're not designed to do?

Everyone has the choice to transfer out their RMPP benefits to DC if they want to(assuming you can find a friendly IFA). That may be a better option for some, it may not be for others.

And what happens if the Pensions assets lose value?

1. It's up to the trustees to amend the investments so they go back up in value. It's a long term thing, there doesn't necessarily have to be enough in the pot all the time.
2. The company pay more in, although I doubt they'd be too willing to do that.

The RMPP is actually in pretty good shape at the moment and has been since 2012.

[RobertT]

if you are young then a pension is a long game investment, and if you are near to retirement scenario, then i think i read somewhere about your pot being taken out of riskier investments and shielded.

I would ask for RobertT to help with clarification and adjust anything I've written that may be untrue, or to validate the correct bits of information that i have attempted to give.

The general rule is to de-risk your pension investments as you approach retirement, from equities to bonds. Although it also depends what you want to do with your money.

If you want to buy an annuity to provide an income for the rest of your life, then de-risking is usually the way to go, so you can lock in your gains.

But if you want to go the drawdown route, then staying invested for longer may be a better option.

As ever, it will depend on personal circumstances and choices.

The sting in the tail at the moment is that the traditional de-risking method of going into bonds, would have seen your money go down due to the high rate of inflation.

[RobertT]

As a side bar to this discussion ... I wonder if is there anything to worry about a Hostile takeover of RM by VESA? In the past we've all read accounts of Pension Funds being "Raided" by Predatory Assett Strippers.

Everything we've built up to any transfer should be safe under normal circumstances. It's only if RM goes bust with a pension deficit they can't afford, that the Pension Protection Fund could come into play.

Robert Maxwell and his raid on his companies pensions always gets brought up, but there were laws put in place after that to stop someone else doing the same!

The biggest threat to RM pensions of any take over is whether the new CDC scheme will happen, as that will cost a lot of money that any asset stripping new owner probably won't want to continue to pay.

[RobertT]

What this RMPP benefit illustration does do is bring FlexiplanAVC's back to the front of people's minds once again.

I think people will be re-evaluating their Pension document and look for ways of boosting their retirement investment, also with Flexiplan AVC's, you yourself have greater control over where and the type of your money is invested, ie. growth, balanced, cautious, cash and so on.

I realised a long time ago that my main RM pension wouldn't be enough to retire when I wanted to.

My AVC's mean what I get from age 60 with be enough to retire quite comfortably at that age. Paying into them was probably one of my best decisions in the 30 odd years I've worked for the company!

Once I'd achieved the '60 goal', I started to think about retiring earlier and have managed to build up enough to go at 55, which will be next year.

The sooner you start taking your pension seriously, the sooner you'll realise the amount you'll get from your weekly contributions won't be enough when the time comes.

The sooner you start putting extra aside, the longer it'll have to grow. Don't underestimate the power of compounded returns over a 20-30 year period!

It's hard to save extra, particularly at the moment with high inflation and losing money on strike days. But if you can spare the cash and take the long term view, your future self will be grateful.