Pension freedoms are being compromised

The Cayman Islands is currently experiencing an exodus of overseas workers looking to leave the autonomous British Overseas Territory before it closes a loophole which currently allows expats to convert their retirement savings to cash before they leave.

The law previously allowed expats to access pension accounts of $5,000 or more once they had been living outside Cayman for six months and had not made pension contributions for at least two years.

From 31 December, 2019, it will only be possible to receive payouts at retirement age. Those who want to take their pensions early must leave the Cayman Islands by the end of 2017.

Yet again what another country does or doesn’t do could have huge implications of the rest of Europe and the Western world. 

The clock is ticking for the Greek government to pay back the International Monetary Fund over €1bn (£720m) in loans in early May, as well as fund €1.4bn Treasury bill redemptions, and other major payments, including coupon payments on Greek government bonds.

It would appear that the Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis has been sidelined in Greek debt negotiation talks, but as Holly Cook from Morningstar says “The situation hasn’t changed that much, no matter who is actually doing the talking, they can’t stray too far from what their original mantra was, because their original mantra was all about anti-austerity… They’ve got a relatively tight margin for maneuver.”