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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| Minister: Retired 'could be given right to sell pension' | Minister: Retired 'could be given right to sell pension' |
| (about 9 hours later) | |
| Retired workers could be given the right to sell their pensions under plans floated by the pensions minister. | Retired workers could be given the right to sell their pensions under plans floated by the pensions minister. |
| From April, working people will be able to cash in their pension savings for a lump sum when they retire. | From April, working people will be able to cash in their pension savings for a lump sum when they retire. |
| Lib Dem Steve Webb said he wanted to extend this to existing pensioners. | Lib Dem Steve Webb said he wanted to extend this to existing pensioners. |
| Mr Webb said the plans were being drawn up by the Department for Work and Pensions, but said he did not yet have agreement from his Conservative coalition colleagues. | Mr Webb said the plans were being drawn up by the Department for Work and Pensions, but said he did not yet have agreement from his Conservative coalition colleagues. |
| His plan would allow pensioners, if they wanted, to sell the annuities they had been required to buy under the old rules to the highest bidder. | His plan would allow pensioners, if they wanted, to sell the annuities they had been required to buy under the old rules to the highest bidder. |
| This would allow them a lump sum to spend on what they liked, and could be used alongside other pensions they have accumulated, Mr Webb said. | This would allow them a lump sum to spend on what they liked, and could be used alongside other pensions they have accumulated, Mr Webb said. |
| He told BBC News his proposal would not be implemented by April when the changes affecting working people, announced in Chancellor George Osborne's 2014 budget, come into force. | He told BBC News his proposal would not be implemented by April when the changes affecting working people, announced in Chancellor George Osborne's 2014 budget, come into force. |
| He said: "To be honest, I would hope that all parties will say that people who have worked hard and built up a pension pot should be given the freedom to do what they want with it, rather than have the government tell them how to spend their own money." | He said: "To be honest, I would hope that all parties will say that people who have worked hard and built up a pension pot should be given the freedom to do what they want with it, rather than have the government tell them how to spend their own money." |
| Mr Webb has previously said pensioners should be free to spend their pension savings on a Lamborghini if they wish. | Mr Webb has previously said pensioners should be free to spend their pension savings on a Lamborghini if they wish. |
| Under the changes previously announced, people reaching retirement age will no longer have to buy a guaranteed annual income, in the form of an annuity. | Under the changes previously announced, people reaching retirement age will no longer have to buy a guaranteed annual income, in the form of an annuity. |
| Labour has said it supports that move in principle, but said scrapping the requirement to take out an annuity altogether was a potentially "reckless and irresponsible" move, which could "leave people running out of money". | Labour has said it supports that move in principle, but said scrapping the requirement to take out an annuity altogether was a potentially "reckless and irresponsible" move, which could "leave people running out of money". |
| Mr Webb said the people affected by the changes were "the opposite of irresponsible" as they had already saved hard to build up a pension. | Mr Webb said the people affected by the changes were "the opposite of irresponsible" as they had already saved hard to build up a pension. |
| "It should not be the government saying 'we insist you take your retirement income in one particular way'," he added. | "It should not be the government saying 'we insist you take your retirement income in one particular way'," he added. |