See this is the thing.
A few people talked up thread about what to do about their pensions and whether they are worth it.
Its hard to say and it's difficult to counter.
Our entire financial system is built on the premise of continued growth. There is a lot to say that's unsustainable and many have predicted for years that we would hit a peak then decline quite rapidly. And this isn't unqiue to the uk. Its global. If that is true then everywhere will inevitably hit a crash at some point.
However I certainly wouldnt say to abandon pensions without really thinking about it.
The thing is that a sizeable number of people closest to retirement age, if they lose a lot, are liable not to continue working or think of other sensible ways to deal with the issue. They are at risk of looking for high risk strategies which leaves them open to being either scammed or losing even more.
We know there are already big issues with foreign exchange dealing scams, cypto being a disaster area and stuff like buying wine or whiskey thats either worthless or doesn't even exist.
These are areas that are unregulated and even less transparent.
The other area that people often look to invest in is the buy to let market, but under the current climate that's only doable if your investment isn't on credit and with a mortgage. A lot of people who have already invested in buy to let instead of mortgages could be really stuffed by the interest rates.
So there's multiple issues here.
I think that mistrust in traditional financial institutions is going to lend itself to people mistrusting even savings accounts too. Even though with high interest rates they perhaps look a lot more attractive than they have in a while.
And stuff money under the mattress isn't a good idea in a climate with no interest and high inflation rates. Not to mention much deeper levels of poverty (crime) and increasing freak weather patterns.
I do think its possible we will see a rise in more banking options based on a cooperative basis which aren't for the primary benefit of third party share holders but instead for members only. But I'm not convinced that these will give better returns - people are looking for the beat returns so they can work less
The reality we have to probably face up to is the dream of retiring at 50 has set sail and gone. People will be working even longer and will retire with less, having to put even more in even then. This was already a pattern that was playing out without this crisis.
There isn't a magic bullet here. The idea that you could have some magical low tax haven and still maintain the standard of living was the dream that brexiteers in government always had - and was out of step with the public perception and ambition for Brexit was. Thats what rankles with me. Not merely the idea of leaving the EU but what the public understood and wanted Brexit to be, being hijacked by a series of MPs who then pushed their own agenda rather than focusing on what was needed for the country.
Truss's arrogance has been almighty.
For various reasons I do think the other parties are also guilty of the same follies though, in different areas.
Politics in this country is a complete mess. No party comes close to addressing the countries long term critical issues. Its incredibly short termist and scared of big decisions.
A crash in pensions has been a long time coming imho. The final salary schemes weren't sustainable and persisted for too long in the face of this being obvious with cost to subsequent generations. Truss has probably merely speeded it up tbh.
And governments for the last 30 years have been making a variety of similarly poor decisions when biting the bullet and getting on with change would have been much more beneficial.
I don't think people really can fully protect themselves and that's the scarest bit - that loss of control and the feeling of betrayal if you have done 'all the right things'.