Osborne's budget headline unravels ?

As with a lot of budgets from Osborne the day after the night before looks less good. The rabbit he pulled out of his hat on pension pots is beginning to look less like a good deal in the cold light of analysis.

It is a good idea in principle to allow those retiring to invest or spend their pension savings how they wish. Certainly annuities are a bad deal with interest rates so low. Pensioners have suffered with their incomes falling. It has a good ring about. It fits the 'being in control' on ones own finances. But how will these complex decisions be made and how do we avoid unscrupulous exploitation of pensioners?

I can see headlines in 30 years time about mis-sold investment schemes. There will be a mad scramble of financial companies creating difficult to interpret 'products' with difficult to read small print. It will be a mess.

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