Five Questions About: Pension charges

Oh no, not another thing that's going up?

Not this time. In fact moves by the Association of British Insurers this week could mean the opposite for millions of people saving for their retirement.

Good news? That makes a change. So what have they done, scrapped outrageous fees?

No such luck. No, the ABI – an insurance industry body – has published proposals it hopes will make pension charges easier to understand. Specifically it has set out an action plan for clearer pension charges and costs.

But that won't reduce charges?

Maybe not, but it should give us a better idea of how much we're paying for pensions and allow us to compare charges. Ultimately it should allow us to choose a cheaper firm, cutting the amount of our money swallowed up in charges.

Oh well that's something. When will the new rules come into force?

Ah, there's the rub. They're only proposals at the moment. It will be up to the financial and pension regulators to bear them in mind and decide how to introduce them, if at all.

So there isn't actually any good news yet?

Not really. But it's hoped new rules will come after auto-enrolment this autumn – that's when firms will start to be forced to set up pension schemes for their workers.