MPs want to scrap the pensions triple lock to help millennials November 6, 2016 A group of top MPs have called on the government to scrap the favourable triple lock on state pensions because it favours the baby boomer generation over struggling millennials. The MPs said the promise to guarantee the state pension with a yearly rise in line with either inflation, average earnings or 2.5 per cent, whichever [...]
Pensions Regulator steps up probe into Sir Philip Green November 2, 2016 The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has tonight intensified its investigation into Sir Philip Green as it seeks to end the crisis engulfing the retirement scheme of collapsed retailer BHS. Lesley Titcomb, the head of the pensions watchdog, announced late on Wednesday that TPR is to escalate its enforcement action as it seeks redress for 20,000 BHS pension scheme [...]
Rich grandparents are your ticket to a comfortable retirement: why liberalising inheritance tax rules could significantly reduce the UK’s pension saving shortfall November 2, 2016 It is no great secret that today’s young people are at serious risk of being poor in their retirement. While asset-rich baby boomers hoard their wealth, eight years after the financial crisis, working age people are stuck with low wage inflation, and depressed returns on any savings they can scrape together after paying their rent [...]
Investors pull more money from UK equities in September November 1, 2016 Investors continued to draw money out of the UK in September, new figures out today show. Net retail fund sales tracked by the Investment Association during the month totalled £664m overall, down from £1.7bn in August, with total funds under management coming in at £1 trillion. Investors continued to pull money from UK equities, with [...]
Should investors brace themselves for a big stock market fall if Donald Trump wins the US election? November 1, 2016 Adrian Ash, head of research at BullionVault, says Yes. If a friend is now waking up after missing 2016 in a coma, bring them up to speed gently: start with Leicester winning the Premier League at 5000-to-one. The UK’s vote to leave the EU was discounted even by its leading proponents right until the morning of [...]
As inflation rises, central banks have their eyes on economic growth, not prices: Here’s what’s causing the bond sell-off November 1, 2016 Inflation is back, it would seem. After years of deflation and disinflation, recent data shows that price levels have been rising in the US, the UK and in the Eurozone. After a peak in bond prices in July, holders of debt are now concerned that the yield on long-dated securities could be eroded over the coming [...]
Companies need to tell us the real numbers when it comes to pension deficits, say experts October 31, 2016 Some of Britain's high profile corporate failures could have been avoided if details of their pension scheme deficits had been made clearer according to experts. In a wide-ranging review of the FTSE 350, covenant experts, Lincoln Pensions, called for a greater level of transparency in company’s annual reports. "We believe that many of the issues [...]
Ex-FSA head: maturing P2P industry could cause regulatory headaches October 31, 2016 Increasing complexity in the peer-to-peer lending industry will be a “flashing red light” for regulators, according to Lord Adair Turner, the former head of the now-defunct Financial Services Authority (FSA). The comments, made in an interview published today by Peer2Peer Finance News, a new industry publication, add to his warning earlier in the year that potential [...]
Know your benefit crystallisation event from your pension input period with our A to Z of pensions jargon October 28, 2016 National Pensions Awareness day came and went last month, with no apparent impact on people’s understanding of one of the best ways of saving for retirement. The Bank of England’s media-savvy chief economist Andy Haldane said in May that even he was unable to understand pensions because the system is so complicated. This situation is [...]
An intergenerational study reveals millennials are ridiculously optimistic about when they’ll retire October 28, 2016 Britain's 20-somethings have unrealistic expectations as to when they will retire, thinking that they will be able to down-tools much earlier than any other age group. Those aged between 20 and 30 think that they will retire halfway between their 60th and 61st birthday. Across all age groups, Britons think on average that they will retire just before their [...]