Live in a nice area and get a smaller pension!
In a move which smacks of yet another tax on the rich it has been announced that Norwich Union will be the latest insurance giant to introduce a postcode lottery for pensioners. While they claim that 70% of the population will remain on the same pension or actually see a rise in their income, 30% will be worse off. Norwich Union will be paying out smaller pensions to those who live in more affluent areas because they are expected to live longer. But is this fair?
The problem here is that premiums will remain unchanged for those paying into their pension scheme prior to retirement. It will only be when they retire and the insurance companies check their postcode against the UK map of affluent areas that they will find what is happening to their pensions. But is this fair? Or is this yet another back handed tax on the rich?
While the rich will claim that this is very unfair it is also worth pointing out that the poorer areas of the UK are unlikely to see substantial numbers in a position to take out a private pension. So while in theory many people may have benefitted, in practice it may be very very different!
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