Pensions - Articles - Aegon on Ros Altman's call for reform of 'triple lock'

 “The State pension is the bedrock of many people’s retirement incomes and to give pensioners certainty, Government should not make mid-term changes to commitments such as the triple lock. We welcome the Government’s confirmation that it has no plans to remove the triple lock ahead of 2020.

 “Nine years of ‘triple lock catch up’ by 2020 will be a very valuable benefit to pensioners, but clearly, the more its value, the greater its cost to the Government and taxpayers. Considerations around state pension increases should be reviewed every 5 years on affordability grounds and to make sure the Government is allocating finite resources fairly between generations.

 “Aegon research shows there is considerable distrust of the government’s commitment to State pensions and its ability to make decisions that are fair between generations. One third of the UK population believes the State pension will be at a less generous level, while a tenth believes there will be no State pension at all when they reach retirement. 70% do not trust the Government to make decisions fairly between workers and retirees when reforming State pensions.

 “People need trust in state pensions so they can determine how much they need to save in addition to meet their retirement aspirations. It’s important that state pension policy is fixed for at least five years, and in some regards for far longer, giving certainty to pensioners and savers alike.”