Sustainability of the State Pension

Essay from the year 2011 in the subject Economics - Case Scenarios, University of Exeter (Business School), course: Economics of Social Policy, language: English, abstract: It is important to recognise the complexity of the pensions system in the UK before tackling the topic. Whilst the state pension has been around in one form or another since 1908, gradual reforms to keep it applicable to modern times have been few and far between. The greatest shake-up of the pension system since its creation came into effect on April 6 2006 - known as A-Day by industry professionals, in the form of a document entitled Pension Simplification. Prior to this, there were no less than thirty-two separate rulebooks governing how pensions had to be invested and managed in the UK. Bizarrely, A-Day did not shelve these rulebooks and many of them still contain important legislation that affects pensions in the UK. Industry professionals to whom I have spoken during the course of researching this essay agree that pensions are still one of, if not the most complex areas of British personal finance that can confuse even the most seasoned of veteran investors.For this reason, I have dealt with pensions in the UK in a level of depth that is technical, but not needlessly confusing. The important factors have been mentioned and explained, though I freely admit there is a great deal more out there that anybody would struggle to cover within the confines of a book, let alone an essay! Hopefully, the arguments conveyed and discussed from hereon in are of sufficient detail to make an informed judgement upon the sustainability of the British pension system.