In response to Jeff Prestridge’s column on pension tax relief (Financial Adviser, 10 March), he always talks sense, and it is so refreshing to see a journalist who knows what they is talking about when it comes to financial issues.
Despite my overall admiration for George Osborne, Mr Prestridge is right. He is making pensions policy on the hoof, which is enormously disappointing as he is eroding the incentives for long-term savings for short-term tax receipts to balance the books.
Any savings or tax receipts will now cost dearly in the future if people are forced to rely on the state to survive. It is better to encourage and incentivise long-term savings so more people will be self-supporting come their retirement.
Keep tax relief simple: for every £2 you save, you receive £1 pound in tax relief – no matter what you earn – and abolish the cap on the lifetime allowance, or at least restore it to £1.5m.
Malcolm Coury
Managing director
Money Wise
Bath
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