Excuses

C A P P A

THE COMPULSORY ANNUITY PURCHASE PROTEST ALLIANCE

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EXCUSES, Excuses, Excuses.

If you write to your MP about the injustice and discrimination of Compulsory Annuitisation, you will eventually get a letter from some Government "mouthpiece," a SpinPerson spinning you some of the following excuses for inaction. This page is where we expose the excuses, half-truths, and inaccuracies used to evade coming to grips with our growing problem.

Government SpinPerson: The age 75 limit for annuity purchase strikes a reasonable balance between allowing a good degree of personal choice and ensuring security of personal income.

FACT: What amazing event takes place on a pensioner's 75th birthday which removes the personal choice he had before? The compulsion does exactly the opposite!

Government SpinPerson: You were "lucky" to have had "generous" tax relief on your savings.

FACT: The Treasury use of the word "generous" should be read as "grudging" Luck is nothing to do with it.

Government SpinPerson: The death of a person within the annuity pool does not provide a windfall for the insurer.

FACT: Oh yes it does! There is no "annuity pool" with any insurer that we have been able to ascertain. The whole amount goes into the insurer's general revenue.

Government SpinPerson: Abolition would mean the Government loses the tax for ever.

FACT: After abolition, the tax will be merely deferred. It will eventually be paid as income tax on withdrawals, apart from the myriad other hidden taxes on such items as long term health care, fuel, clothing heating and transport. Delicacies such as chocolate biscuits fall foul of the taxman too. The list of these other trickle-down taxes is endless. It is the initiating thrift of you, the saver, which primes this tax pump, not the tax relief.

Government SpinPerson: Low inflation rates will maintain the buying power of the current low compulsory annuity income.

FACT: Low inflation rates can never be guaranteed. The Government would never guarantee that inflation would never rise, only that, if it did, interest rates would rise to combat this.

Government SpinPerson: Any change to this system would lead to a pension provision becoming little more than a tax-privileged form of saving.

FACT: The whole concept of a pension plan is a tax-privileged form of saving.

Government SpinPerson: There would be a significant effect on the Exchequer should the anticipated revenue be further delayed or even avoided altogether.

FACT: The recommendations of the Retirement Income Working Party would suit this eventuality. At present, once a Compulsory Annuity is purchased, the Exchequer is gambling that the annuitant will not die. When this happens, all the revenue ceases.

Government SpinPerson: If you, as a pensioner, were able to get your hands on your fund, you would only squander it, and then expect to fall back on the state to subsidise your needs.

FACT: The current Government programs for giving income support to the needy are not working. Government figures show that a quarter of the people entitled will not claim. These self-reliant folk just hate having to go, cap in hand, to ask for help by exposing their poverty. If they do bottle up their pride and make a claim, they face an extremely complicated and demeaning bureaucratic application process. The vast majority prefer to keep their self-respect by coping within their own resources. Particularly if they have been thrifty and been pension savers throughout their working lives.

Government SpinPerson: Annuity providers don't make money, quoting the need for "competitiveness"

FACT: If the Annuity providers can't make any money under the prevailing circumstances, they are unfit to be given the responsibility for managing the underlying pension fund investments in the first place.

May we suggest that you refuse to be fobbed off and respond to the Government writer incorporating, in your own words, some of these facts to refute their allegations. We will be updating these pages as more imaginative and grotesque fictions are spun out by Government SpinPersons.

SCRAP THE TRAP!

Please see "How can I help"



		C A P P A

	THE COMPULSORY ANNUITY PURCHASE PROTEST ALLIANCE More facts Press Releases Forum SMF Press and New Comments How can I help? CONTACT US

	EXCUSES, Excuses, Excuses. If you write to your MP about the injustice and discrimination of Compulsory Annuitisation, you will eventually get a letter from some Government "mouthpiece," a SpinPerson spinning you some of the following excuses for inaction. This page is where we expose the excuses, half-truths, and inaccuracies used to evade coming to grips with our growing problem. Government SpinPerson: The age 75 limit for annuity purchase strikes a reasonable balance between allowing a good degree of personal choice and ensuring security of personal income. FACT: What amazing event takes place on a pensioner's 75th birthday which removes the personal choice he had before? The compulsion does exactly the opposite! Government SpinPerson: You were "lucky" to have had "generous" tax relief on your savings. FACT: The Treasury use of the word "generous" should be read as "grudging" Luck is nothing to do with it. Government SpinPerson: The death of a person within the annuity pool does not provide a windfall for the insurer. FACT: Oh yes it does! There is no "annuity pool" with any insurer that we have been able to ascertain. The whole amount goes into the insurer's general revenue. Government SpinPerson: Abolition would mean the Government loses the tax for ever. FACT: After abolition, the tax will be merely deferred. It will eventually be paid as income tax on withdrawals, apart from the myriad other hidden taxes on such items as long term health care, fuel, clothing heating and transport. Delicacies such as chocolate biscuits fall foul of the taxman too. The list of these other trickle-down taxes is endless. It is the initiating thrift of you, the saver, which primes this tax pump, not the tax relief. Government SpinPerson: Low inflation rates will maintain the buying power of the current low compulsory annuity income. FACT: Low inflation rates can never be guaranteed. The Government would never guarantee that inflation would never rise, only that, if it did, interest rates would rise to combat this. Government SpinPerson: Any change to this system would lead to a pension provision becoming little more than a tax-privileged form of saving. FACT: The whole concept of a pension plan is a tax-privileged form of saving. Government SpinPerson: There would be a significant effect on the Exchequer should the anticipated revenue be further delayed or even avoided altogether. FACT: The recommendations of the Retirement Income Working Party would suit this eventuality. At present, once a Compulsory Annuity is purchased, the Exchequer is gambling that the annuitant will not die. When this happens, all the revenue ceases. Government SpinPerson: If you, as a pensioner, were able to get your hands on your fund, you would only squander it, and then expect to fall back on the state to subsidise your needs. FACT: The current Government programs for giving income support to the needy are not working. Government figures show that a quarter of the people entitled will not claim. These self-reliant folk just hate having to go, cap in hand, to ask for help by exposing their poverty. If they do bottle up their pride and make a claim, they face an extremely complicated and demeaning bureaucratic application process. The vast majority prefer to keep their self-respect by coping within their own resources. Particularly if they have been thrifty and been pension savers throughout their working lives. Government SpinPerson: Annuity providers don't make money, quoting the need for "competitiveness" FACT: If the Annuity providers can't make any money under the prevailing circumstances, they are unfit to be given the responsibility for managing the underlying pension fund investments in the first place. May we suggest that you refuse to be fobbed off and respond to the Government writer incorporating, in your own words, some of these facts to refute their allegations. We will be updating these pages as more imaginative and grotesque fictions are spun out by Government SpinPersons. SCRAP THE TRAP! Please see "How can I help"