Twenty years ago today...

Today is 17 May 2010. As a pensions administrator the date of 17 May is engraved on my heart. At work I refer to it several times a day. It is the day connected to the infamous Barber judgement which occurred in 1990 relating to pension scheme equalisation of retirement ages for men and women. For most of the pension schemes I work on, there is an actual date of equalisation which may be months or years after 17/05/1990. This means there is a transition period between 17/05/1990 to actual equalisation date, therefore adding several layers of complexity to a calculation.

I wonder what Mr Barber (who I understand is now deceased) would have made of all the trouble his case has caused. Although obviously it was the right thing to do to have pension ages equalised, there should have been a tidier way to go about it.

I mentioned the anniversary to a work colleague earlier. Her comment was "Oh yes, we're having a party.....NOT!"