# Pension Confiscation - The risk?



## ringledman (3 Apr 2013)

Anyone else concerned about the risk of expropriation of pension assets?

Already a fair few countries nationalising public pensions to pay for short term deficits.

Particularly dishonest.

Personally I see paying off the mortgage as a safer investment than leave a nice pile at the prying eyes of bankrupt governments.


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## Chris (19 Apr 2013)

ringledman said:


> Anyone else concerned about the risk of expropriation of pension assets?
> 
> Already a fair few countries nationalising public pensions to pay for short term deficits.
> 
> ...



I agree, the taxation of private pensions was just the start.

Personally I've started moving some assets out of Europe to the Caribbean. The further away I can get my assets from Irish and EU politicians the better.


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## slumdogz (19 Apr 2013)

Sure Has'nt the National Pension Reserve Fund created By Charlie mc Creevy been cleaned out also.
The only decent bit of future proofing we seem to have done for the pension time bomb thats shortly comming down the road confiscated.


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## Daddy (19 Apr 2013)

A bit alarmist to think this is likely to happen.


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## ringledman (20 Apr 2013)

Daddy said:


> A bit alarmist to think this is likely to happen.


 
It is occuring elsewhere and the position of western countries is getting worse each year. Deficits continue which means that government debt continues to rise toward historic levels.

Pensions offer an easy way out for bankrupt governments whether by further financial repression (taxation) or a more explicit stealth theft. 

Although they will sell it as your assets being 'invested' it will be no more than swapping any long term pension assets (stocks, bonds, commodities, property) as held in ones pension (or group pension) to be replaced with devalued government debt. 

i.e. swapping long term assets to fund short term government funding.

There are various countries out there which have either made a full grab or are considering a partial grab in the form of forcing public sector or private group pensions into funding government liabilities in all but name. The last grab would be private individual pensions but even this should be considered.

In my view a pension now includes added risk that is both difficult to price and difficult to hedge against. For this reason I see paying off a mortgage as a better place for any spare cash (on the principle that one's primary residence is the last / most difficult asset to force financial repression on). 

The rules of investing during the golden decades now need reviewing IMO.


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## Daddy (22 Apr 2013)

Ya I'm worried now and even more worried when in an OECD report just out which talks about the state pension being means tested.    Why bother putting in AVC's maybe a better approach is just to put in the minimum and invest the AVC's net of tax into a property.  Will start another trhread on this in Pension forum.


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