Will You Be Hit by the Pensions Crisis?

Tom McPhail is a pensions industry expert. Former Head of Policy at Hargreaves Lansdown he now works for finance consultancy firm the lang cat.

💼 Get us to visit your workplace:
Want us to help you and your colleagues with a financial education?

📈 Investment platforms we use:
Trading 212
Get a free share worth up to £100 when you sign up for a new Invest or ISA account and deposit at least £1.
If you do not get your free share after depositing at least £1, use the promo code ‘MM’ (for Making Money). You can use this code for up to 10 days after opening the account.

InvestEngine
Get a £25 bonus when you invest at least £100.

Vanguard
This is not an affiliate link.

If you purchase a product or service using one of these links, we will receive a small commission from the seller. There will be no additional charge for you. Remember investments can fall and rise - and past performance is no guarantee of future results. Other fees may apply. Your money is at risk.

🎉Sponsors

✉️ Newsletter

Disclaimer:
This is not financial advice. The reason it’s not financial advice is because it’s not tailored to you. We explain the principles of building wealth but if you want personalised advice, it’s worth speaking to a financial advisor. As with everything financial, please do your own research. We really encourage that because no one cares more about your money than you and if you learn the basics then it will change your life.

Chapters:

00:00-00:38 - Intro
00:38-07:23 - Who is affected by the pensions crisis?
07:23-10:05 - The impact of an ageing population
10:05-12:37 - Owning a home vs renting
12:37-14:07 - The gender pensions gap
14:07-17:59 - Pensions and the self-employed
17:59-18:41 - Manual ad
18:41-22:30 - Is the state pension a ponzi scheme?
22:30-26:54 - Bill Ackman’s solution to the pensions crisis
26:54-31:38 - Psychological nudges
31:38-40:54 - Death by default (funds)
40:54-41:45 - Vanta ad
42:45-45:59 - Why don’t we teach this in school?
45:59- 50:56 - How pensions could fuel growth
50:56-55:52 - Why Canada and Australia do better with pensions
55:52-01:01:52 - What you should do about your pension today
01:01:52-01:05:58 - Why is he called the pensions monkey?
01:05:58-01:07:52 - Want me to come to your workplace?

[michaelnoy]

Without you guys I wouldn’t be paying more money into my pension, my wife wouldn’t have a vanguard account pension and I wouldn’t have a trading 121 stocks and shares lsa we are learning more every podcast and gaining confidence at my age of 54 about my retirement. Thank you 🙏

[ADHDNurse]

You guys have literally changed our families lives for the better! Thankyou. My children now have a personal pension, JISA and I set up a LISA, SIPP and S&S ISA with your tips and ‘advice’. These videos are so good and so valuable. Great content and guests as usual 👏

[melike]

The Government found the money for a track and trace app that flopped but no money for starting the £5k deposit to a sips for every new born baby pension fund.

[raykingston]

That was really good. Thanks Louis Therouz of finance

[Andrew-dpkf]

I would say the cost of housing has had a unexpected effect on a wide range of issues from marriage and children, to saving for pensions. It’s a bigger iceberg then people want to admit.

[thomaspowell]

I had no idea my employer matched 10% for the work place pension. They auto-enroll you on 3%. I only found out about the 10% max limit by accident. It's really worth checking what your employer does!!

[thelightinallofus]

Tom was fantasitc on this podcast. A fountain of knowledge, really articulate easy to listen to. Thanks Tom for your time and valuable perspective!

[chrisyates]

Really great to meet the pensions monkey TM 😊 as a 71 years old man with a decent income/pension I really enjoyed this discussion - the public service value of your work is immense - so many vital social issues raised and discussed. I'm sure you are thinking how to engage more young people with this challenge

[stevemorrison]

What a good interviewee Tom is. Very clear positioning and great video

[juliandickinson]

Another brilliant guest, great work Damien and the team

[biodiversity]

I contribute 38% of my wage and my employer contributes 12%. Plus i sacrifice my bonus towards it. I am 43 and have only 27K savings in my pension pot, trying to catch up.

[sushiaddict]

Brilliant podcast Damien. One point which is rarely covered & I think is actually quite important to help engage those without pensions (mainly the opt-outs but also low earners & those confused by the system) is the name itself. It is overly confusing that the state PENSION and private defined contribution PENSIONs share a similar name but do not have any similarities at all. I strongly believe if private ones were called 'Retirement Investment Accounts' (or something similar!) via auto-enrollment - you would see even fewer opt-outs. I'm a high earner from a modest family so have learnt to follow content around it all - but I fear it's confusing if you're the type of person that comes from a background where the only pension you've ever heard family mention is the state pension. Would be interesting to hear your thoughts?

[markkendall]

Financial education at school is key I feel, it’s totally ignored!

[withwilk]

These podcasts are soo insightful and not full of fluff. I really appreciate the clean & clear information. Keep going!

[thesavvysquaddie]

Great episode. Highlighting how good our pensions are in the Armed Forces to those serving is something I've been doing for the last few years. People genuinely don't realise how amazing and valuable it truly is. And as mentioned in the episode, it's also really hard for young 18 year olds to understand the importance of something they wont rely on for about 50 odd years.

[TheMichaelru]

Very interesting episode. My only criticism for this one would be there was only the briefest introduction to who the guest is. Would have appreciated a couple of minutes at the beginning for Tom to give his background to set the scene. Love the channel(s). Keep up the good work!

[fredatlas]

Warren Buffet says private equity is basically a scam. Plus here in the UK average wages haven't even kept up with inflation let alone beaten it. From 2010 up until 2019 average wages adjusted for inflation went down by minus 2.5% for the whole period, and since 2019 that figure has to be a lot worse now

[rob_lightbody]

Gen-x here. 51 years. First time I was offered any pension at all was just 13 years ago and it was DC of course. Nobody my age that I know has DB, or adequate pension provision.

[catsmother]

The problem with the UK state pension system is just as you said their is no pool of money. Their should be a pool of money as the working citizens have paid into a pool of money, but the government has mismanaged it and already spent it.

[tridau]

Top notch content again. So much great discussion and Tom’s passion for pensions is infectious! I’ll be sharing with the youf at work. Thank you 🙏🏻