Don't become a victim of the pension pot fraudsters -Tricia Phillips

Cold calling crooks are after your hard-earned pension savings we explain how to avoid losing your cash

Keep you pension savings safe

Fraudsters are out in force to cash in on confusion over pension changes with scams to release cash from nest eggs.
More than a third of people have received messages via email or text offering a review of their pension savings or ways to release cash.
Research from Pheonix Group shows a quarter of those approached by pension liberation schemes were tempted to take up the offer and the same number have no idea what to do with savings when they reach 55.

Have you been cold called about your pension yet

The scams

Normally, savings in a pension aren't accessible until you're 55.
But various scams - by text, cold calling or in person - try to persuade you that you can get a better deal by moving your money into overseas investments. These frequently turn out to be unregulated, high-risk or bogus and can see you lose your entire life savings.
Others entice savers to access pensions as a lump sum or loan before age 55, which means they get hit with huge tax penalties and sky high fees from conmen.

The 'free pension review' with a huge cost

Beware people offering to review your pension

 John, 55, is one of those who has been targeted by rogues. He could have lost his life savings after being convinced by a cold caller they were a genuine independent financial adviser with a brilliant investment opportunity.
He is so relieved his wife Jean got suspicious about the free pensions review and investment he was offered.
John explained: “It wasn’t until I got a transfer pack from Pheonix, the firm holding my pension, that I began to have doubts.
"These people are so convincing and clever at making you believe they are the experts and are offering a scheme that is best for you.”
John was offered the chance to invest in property abroad. He was told he could transfer his pension pot to another scheme and buy a share in a hotel.
He was told he would get a guaranteed full return on his investment, as well as a percentage payment on profits from the hotel. But there was no mention of any tax implications or any risk to his money.

The hard sell

'The Wolf of Wall Street' was based on a true story, and the hard sell is still being used by scammers

 He said: “It did sound like a great offer and the chance to make more from my hard-earned cash. They were very pushy and tried to get me to transfer my savings immediately."
The caller tried to get John to make a snap decision, offering to send someone to his home so he could sign transfer forms there and then.
“It is worrying that there are people out there who are out to trick those heading towards retirement out of their pensions,” added John.
Another Pheonix policyholder in his 40s almost lost his entire pension too when fraudsters told him he could get early access to the cash via a legal loophole.
The lure of a commission on top of his pension savings made this an offer that was difficult to resist. Fortunately he stopped the transaction in the nick of time and still has funds are intact.



Culled from the mirror

The World’s Tiniest Countries and the Eccentrics Who Rule Them-Jordan G. Teicher

Travis McHenry or Montague Ier, King of Calsahara. Léo Delafontaine

Never heard of the Imperial Kingdom of Calsahara? The Conch Republic? The Principality of Sealand? You’re not alone.​ Léo Delafontaine hadn’t either until 2012, when he visited the Republic of Saugeais, a self-proclaimed micronation in eastern France. He’s since become fascinated with “countries” unrecognized by world governments and organizations. His book Micronations​ documents independent states that are just as varied and interesting as their official counterparts.
“Humankind likes discoveries and challenges. One solution is the creation of new countries, but not in order to persecute people or for religious reasons. The idea, rather, is to create new countries and territories for fun, to make people think, to re-enchant the world in a way,” he says via email.
French writer and historian Bruno Fuligni, who wrote the introduction to Micronations, estimates there are more than 400 of these self-proclaimed entities.
Delfontaine visited 12 locations throughout the US, Europe, and Australia. They included monarchies, republics, “funny dictatorships,” and some with no government at all. He earned citizenship in three—the Principality of Sealand, the Principality of Seborga, and the Conch Republic.
The Principality of Hutt River in Australia draws thousands of visitors annually, which is one reason it exists at all. Others serve as political satire. Conch Republic, for example, was created in 1982 after Key West Mayor Dennis Wardlow “symbolically began the Conch Republic’s Civil Rebellion by breaking a loaf of stale Cuban bread over the head of a man dressed in a U.S. Navy uniform” according to the Conch Republic’s website. Some micronations are easily accessible while others are difficult to get to. In Copenhagen, tourists can enter Christiania on foot, while visitors to the Principality of Sealand, a WWII island fortress six miles off the eastern shores of Britain, have to shell out over $2,000 for transport and a visa.
Regardless of their intention, these countries commit: They have national anthems and flags, passports and coins, militaries and laws. The Kingdom of Elleore hosts history classes for kids and created its own national sport.
“Most of the people I met were really well educated, curious, ironic and completely aware of what they are doing. They are not crazy or greedy for power. But they like to dress up and make fun of their country of origin,” he says.
Most of these micronations declared “sovereignty” between the 1970s and 1990s. But there have been some newcomers; the Imperial Kingdom of Calsahara in southern California declared its sovereignty in 2009. Delafontaine says most new micronations, like the Kingdom of Talossa, exist primarily online.
“I think that the golden age of micronations is almost over. The famous ones, like the Principality of Hutt River and the Republic of Saugeais, are headed by very old people,” he says. “And after their death, their micronations will disappear with them. Young people interested in micronations don’t seem to be interested in claiming a physical territory. They prefer to create new countries online. It’s not better or worse, but it’s different.”

Culled from wired

Jack Ma is Now Asia’s Richest Person-Zijing Wu and Sterling Wong

Jack Ma has become the richest person in Asia.

The 50-year-old founder of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA), China's biggest e-commerce company, passed Li Ka-shing, the Hong Kong property and ports tycoon who has held the top spot in the region since April 5, 2012, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

"I am nothing but happy when young people from China do well," Li, 86, said by his spokeswoman in Hong Kong. A spokesman at Alibaba declined to comment on Ma's net worth.

Ma, a former English teacher who started the Hangzhou, China-based company in his apartment in 1999, has added $25 billion to his fortune this year, riding a 54 percent surge in the company's shares since its September initial public offering. He has a $28.6 billion fortune, according to the Bloomberg ranking. Li has a net worth of $28.3 billion.

"The billionaires in China are growing their wealth faster because China's economy is still developing, with plenty of room for growth," said Francis Ying, an analyst at Yuanta Research. "Hong Kong is already a mature market."
Alibaba's $259 billion market capitalization makes it larger than Amazon.com Inc. and EBay Inc. combined, and more valuable than all but eight companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index.

More than half of Ma's wealth comes from his 6.3 percent stake of Alibaba, valued at $16.3 billion. He also controls almost half of the closely held finance unit and owner of Alipay, a service similar to PayPal.

Public Offering

Ma's interest in the online-payment company is expected to dilute in the next three to five years with new investors or stock distribution to employees. Ma won't realize any economic benefit from the dilution, Alibaba has said.

Alibaba raised a record $25 billion in its Sept. 18 IPO, selling shares for $68 each. The American depositary receipts rose 1.05 percent to $104.97 at the close in New York.

"If you look at the whole Chinese Internet space as a group, it's definitely getting very significant," said Tony Chu, a money manager for RS Investment, which oversees about $22.3 billion. Alibaba has become "a global stock which you cannot ignore," he said.

The fortune of Hong Kong's Li, who controls Cheung Kong Holdings Ltd. (1), one of the world's three biggest property developers, has fallen $1.9 billion this year, according to the Bloomberg ranking. While shares of the real estate company gained this year, some of his other investments, including Husky Energy Inc., have dropped.

Plastic Flowers

The billionaire started with a plastic flower factory that he opened after World War II. He began investing in Hong Kong's property market in 1967, after riots from China's Cultural Revolution depressed prices and has expanded his investments to include real estate, ports and telecommunications.

Li is nicknamed "Superman" by the local media for his investing prowess. He forecast in 2007 that China's stock-market bubble would burst and predicted in 2009 the rally in Hong Kong home prices that would follow.

Culled from Bloomberg