What you were asking Steve Webb about pensions a decade ago… and what is worrying savers now

Steve Webb published his 500th pension column for This is Money on Monday and we are running a series of special features to celebrate this landmark.

Many loyal readers of Steve Webb's column show up every Monday morning to check up on what he has to say each week.

When he first began answering questions, he didn't have a regular publication day. 

But as soon as we realised people were inclined to make an 'appointment' to read him he won a permanent start-the-week slot on This is Money.

Steve receives mail on an incredibly wide variety of topics, but one reason for his popularity is that he is among the very few independent public commentators on the state pension – and of course, in our opinion, by far the best.

Our readers have benefited greatly from his expertise on the intricate and sometimes baffling rules involving such a crucial element of their retirement income.

The barrage of questions on the state pension has never let up. 

However, Steve has also explained the many changes to private pensions successive governments have introduced, while some tricky tax issues have come up frequently over the past decade.

Steve says: 'I think what's striking is that there are some recurrent themes – people still don't understand the state pension and contracting out, and there's a lot of suspicion around whether pension tax relief will remain intact – but also some newer topics.

'Back in early 2016, pension freedom reforms were barely a year old, the new state pension hadn't started, defined contribution pots were still tiny, and inheritance tax on pensions hadn't been thought of.'

Popular pension topics in 2016

There was such pent-up demand for information about the state pension that five out of the first six questions Steve answered in early 2016 were devoted to the topic. (The odd one out was about how to find cheap financial advice.)

Inheriting a state pension from a spouse, buying top-ups, and the triple lock were all covered in those first few columns.

One interesting early question was about how to sell an annuity, an option that the Government of the time toyed with allowing people to do.

Many savers had bought products that were poor value for money, or were outright mis-sold to them, before pension freedoms made purchasing annuities a rarer choice to generate an income.

Steve's answer back then held many clues as to why ministers got cold feet and ultimately dropped the plan.

It was going to be very hard for ordinary people to tell whether selling their annuity would be a good deal, so there was a risk many could make costly blunders.

When he was Pensions Minister, Steve oversaw the introduction of pension freedoms, which naturally didn't escape our readers' notice.

He had caused a stir at the time by telling the media it would be people's 'choice' whether to spend their lifetime savings on Lamborghini sports cars if they wanted, though he didn't believe many would do so.

A reader therefore asked him if you could use pension freedoms to blow your savings, then go on benefits.

A related question was whether you should use the new freedoms to cash in a pension and get shot of a mortgage.

Meanwhile, another topic that still comes up often now was whether you should merge a lot of small pension pots into one, or if there are good reasons to leave them alone.

Steve says: 'One of the big changes since 2016 is that millions more people are now building up new-style 'pot of money' type pensions. 

'But with these changes come new headaches on how best to manage them. 

'And with the advent of pensions dashboards we are likely to see a huge flurry of interest on the specific issue of pension consolidation, so this is a topic that is going to be of growing interest over the next year or two.'

What readers want to know in 2026

Over the years Steve has campaigned on many issues, most famously for women who were underpaid state pensions, and become a great consumer champion for our readers.

In the past year he has gone up against HMRC, the Department for Work and Pensions, and a series of pension firms to get people justice.

He has been working on behalf of low-paid pension savers who repeatedly report the Government is refusing to take their contributions into account when working out Universal Credit. Steve won £9,000 for a reader in one of these cases.

The meltdown in the civil service pension scheme has also prompted many readers to enlist Steve's help, which he has offered where possible.

However, we always urge people to contact their MPs too, as they are often in the best position to press current scheme administrator Capita to sort out long delays.

Over the past few years, an increasing number of people have written in appealing for help to find lost pensions.

Someone recently wrote in after hitting a dead end in their search, and asking what else they can do. Steve managed to assist and gave some valuable advice to other readers about applying to HMRC for details that could help in your hunt.

Pensions are going to be included in inheritance calculations starting next April, so many readers have asked Steve whether they will be affected and for advice on what to do about unspent pots.

On the state pension front, one reader aged 50 asked whether it might be abolished by the time they retired – find out what Steve had to say to that here.

He says: 'One thing which keeps my column fresh is the fact that the rules and regulations around pensions keep changing.

'It would be nice to think that pension policy will one day reach a period of stability but at the moment it still feels more like 'permanent revolution'. For as long as that continues, I look forward to helping readers navigate this ever-changing landscape.' 

Ask Steve Webb a pension question

Former Pensions Minister Steve Webb is This Is Money's Agony Uncle.

He is ready to answer your questions, whether you are still saving, in the process of stopping work, or juggling your finances in retirement.

Steve left the Department of Work and Pensions after the May 2015 election. He is now a partner at actuary and consulting firm Lane Clark & Peacock.

If you would like to ask Steve a question about pensions, please email him at pensionquestions@thisismoney.co.uk.

Steve will do his best to reply to your message in a forthcoming column, but he won't be able to answer everyone or correspond privately with readers. Nothing in his replies constitutes regulated financial advice. Published questions are sometimes edited for brevity or other reasons.

Please include a daytime contact number with your message - this will be kept confidential and not used for marketing purposes.

If Steve is unable to answer your question, you can also contact MoneyHelper, a Government-backed organisation which gives free assistance on pensions to the public. It can be found here and its number is 0800 011 3797.

Steve receives many questions about state pension forecasts and COPE ¿ the Contracted Out Pension Equivalent. If you are writing to Steve on this topic, he responds to a typical reader question here. It includes links to Steve's several earlier columns about state pension forecasts and contracting out, which might be helpful.  

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