Anyone of a certain age will have heard all of this strike posturing many times before, especially the ‘it’s a matter for employers and workers, the government should not be involved’. There’s been much talk from the man who doesn’t want to get involved (Grant Shapps, Transport Minister) of the ‘median salary’ of train drivers, £59,189 apparently. Well, they’re doing OK, aren’t they, I’ve heard on many a ‘phone in. They do have a lot of lives in their hands, however. More, perhaps, than the average CEO of a FTSE 100 company (median salary £2.69m) or Premiership Footballer (£3.17m). Although perhaps not as many as the average nurse (£31,093) or care worker (£16,502). Scope for more than a little levelling up there, I’d say.
“Record year for annuity sales driven by advisers”
I was asked this week whether annuities are now ‘a good investment’. They’ve been recommended very rarely in recent years, since ‘pension freedoms’ allowed pretty much unlimited drawdown on pension funds and anything left to be passed on to beneficiaries free of Inheritance Tax.
