With pensions freedoms now in effect, will Britain see a revolution in savings? April 6, 2015 Carlton Hood, customer director at Old Mutual Wealth, says Yes. The pension freedoms have done two things; they have put pensions in the public consciousness like never before, and given people the opportunity to take complete responsibility for how they use their own wealth. Eighty-one per cent of consumers have told us they are aware [...]
New pension rules: Retirees most likely to take cash out for holidays April 6, 2015 New retirees no longer have to rely on a fixed income pension – with reforms introduced today, they can access any amount of their pension pot at any time. According to the Association of British Travel Agents (Abta), 20 per cent of Britons aged between 55 and 75 are considering taking cash out because of [...]
Pension reforms come into force across the UK April 6, 2015 From today, major changes to pension rules are coming into force across the UK, affecting all those entering retirement. It is no longer necessary for retirees to take out an annuity, which is the equivalent of a fixed income each year. Instead, they will be able to access their full pension pots as they please, [...]
Pension changes April 2015: The five things you need to know April 4, 2015 Monday 6 April brings not just an Easter Monday sugar come down, but huge changes to the way pensions work. The shake-up will give greater power to savers over how they can use their pension money. Here are the five things you need to know. 1. The changes Those with a defined contribution pension heading [...]
Caught in the act: Why Facewatch has turned to crowdfunding April 1, 2015 I have always wanted to raise investment through crowdfunding, because so much of what my company Facewatch does is based around empowering individuals to help themselves and others to reduce crime. That’s why we want to encourage lots of ordinary people to share in what we believe is going to be a great British success [...]
State pensions generous even after reforms March 31, 2015 Teachers and NHS staff will still receive generous pensions after the government reforms which come into force today, spending watchdog the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) said yesterday. Those with more than 10 years still to work will be made worse off, as their final payout will be based on an average of their earnings [...]
Forget the media darling equity: Debt is the biggest area of UK crowdfunding March 31, 2015 City A.M. published an article last week entitled Crowdfunding: A brief history. It acknowledged that there are four types of crowdfunding – donation, rewards-based, debt and equity – and yet the entire piece focused on equity crowdfunding. At the end of last year, Cambridge University and Nesta released a report called Understanding Alternative Finance. It [...]
Pensions: Act now to avoid 55 per cent tax March 31, 2015 Don’t be caught out by the lower lifetime savings allowance. New rules on the total amount of money that can be saved tax-free in a pension are set to come into force in April 2016. The lifetime allowance was £1.8m in 2011-12, but George Osborne reduced this to £1.25m in 2014, and the limit will [...]
Investing at the gates of hell: Why Kurdistan makes sense – Animal Spirits March 26, 2015 Each month John Hulsman examines under-appreciated opportunities around the world, uncovering markets that it would be easy to overlook. Drake’s prayer, written in 1577 by the legendary English sea captain Francis Drake as he was about to embark on his circumnavigation of the globe, has been much on my mind recently. “Disturb us, Lord, to [...]
Investing in the USA: Should you go active or passive? March 26, 2015 ETFs track the performance of a market, giving investors “passive” exposure to an index such as the S&P 500. Active fund managers use stock selection in the hope of beating the index. Which should you pick to invest in the USA? Active: “Index trackers will generally underperform due to impact of fees” IAN HESLOP [...]