Let's stop penalising people who prepare for retirement and save the state money.

I don't have an index linked final salary pension scheme which allowed me to retire at 55 like many public sector employees. As a well paid salaried employee of private companies, I took the decision to fund my private pension at the expense of nicer cars, a bigger home, more holidays abroad etc. I am still working at 70. I don't know whether my wife and I will live to 100, or drop dead tomorrow, but stupidly I have funded my pension to provide for us to whatever age. This reduces our potential burden on the state. All I ask is that anything unused from my pension can be transferred to my descendants free of inheritance tax as a pension, irrespective of the age that we die. If not, why bother saving at all? I should have just taken the income, paid a lower net rate of tax (40% at the time versus 72% for higher paid descendants now) and leave the state to pick up the costs of our care and support in retirement.

My beneficiaries will have to pay their own tax on withdrawing contributions from their pension in exactly the same way as I do. They do not receive a further tax advantage. The Government does not lose tax, but more positively it does not incentivise people to not save for their retirement.

More importantly this tax change is (commences April 2027) a fundamental breach of the implied contract between the state and its citizens. Having encouraged saving for retirement, the Government has simply spotted an opportunity to introduce a new death tax. If I had known that this was their intention I would not have saved for my retirement.

This is fundamentally wrong, and is simply 'state theft' and deceit.