Great Britain: the government will end the practice of workers withdrawing their pension contributions in cash when they leave an employer

The government has brought forward to 2015 the virtual elimination of an existing possibility for workers, who often switch employers, to withdraw their pots of pensions contributions.This change aims both to limit workers spending their savings and to make pensions saving easier via introducing automatic pension transfer arrangements for people who change employers.
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Announced in 2011 and having raised some doubts within businesses the virtual elimination of the “short service refund” measure has been brought forward from 2016 to October 2015. “The days of people spending their entire career with one employer are largely over, “ explained Steve Webb, the Pensions Minister. “Today, the average Briton has 11 different jobs in their lifetime and we need the rules to reflect this reality. If people change jobs regularly and ‘cash out’ their pension each...

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