My vision as City minister: I want UK finance to be the world’s most competitive June 30, 2015 During my two decades in the financial services industry, I always enjoyed the important annual events that bring the industry together. It was great to be back at The City UK’s conference yesterday, speaking this time in my new job as the government minister responsible for financial services policy. I’m proud of the [...]
Pensions: How investment trusts can boost your retirement savings June 30, 2015 Pensions savers need to focus on making as much money as possible over a long time frame – anywhere from 10 to 40 years. With the government and many companies pulling back from generous pension plans, the onus for retirement security is being placed on the individual. But to build a good pot, retirement [...]
Retired people are doing better and better from their private pensions June 29, 2015 Retired households received an average income of £9,500 from private pensions and annuities in 2013-2014, a real terms increase of nine per cent from 2012-2013, when the average was £8,800, new figures from the Office of National Statistics show. That's an increase of 26 per cent since the start of the financial crisis in 2007-2008, [...]
Pensions: Equivalent of three quarters of Londoners not saving for retirement June 24, 2015 More than six million Brits have not saved any money at all for their retirement years – that's the equivalent of around three quarters of the population of London. A similar number have no savings or investments whatsoever, a new report on pensions from Scottish Widows reveals. Saving for retirement has hit record levels however, [...]
Greece and its creditors’ disagreements: Pensions, VAT and budget deficit will be the sticking points June 23, 2015 The challenging negotiations between Greece and its international creditors may well be entering the final throes – but no one is kidding themselves that the saga is over just yet. Although the latest proposals appear to be paving the way forward, there are three main sticking points – pensions, VAT and government spend against receipts [...]
Act now to avoid the Tories’ pension tax grab June 18, 2015 The chancellor has announced an “emergency” Budget for 8 July. On the basis of the new government’s Queen’s Speech, which saw little by way of surprises, the expectation is that there will be nothing much in the Budget to concern investors. Public spending cuts will continue, the government has already committed not to increase the [...]
Chancellor puts pressure on pension providers with FCA to launch review June 17, 2015 The government is considering imposing a legal cap on the amount savers are charged to withdraw money from their pensions, chancellor George Osborne has said. Standing in for Prime Minister David Cameron at Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) yesterday, Osborne said that Treasury is consulting to make sure that people are not charged excessive early exit [...]
Osborne will have to face up to Britain’s pensioners if he wants to tackle debt June 17, 2015 George Osborne promised last week to legally bind future governments into lowering debt. Thanks to one of his own policies, that debt ambition will be much harder to meet unless reforms are undertaken today. The problem is the “triple lock” on the basic State Pension, the main benefit for retired people which is received by [...]
A third of pensions don’t qualify for George Osborne’s “pensions revolution” June 17, 2015 A third of pensions don't qualify for new rules which allow savers to withdraw their entire pension pots, it's been reported. The investigation by the Daily Mail found as many as six million policies could be "hard to cash in", including 2.29m final salary pensions. More than half that figure is public sector pensions, while insurance [...]
Budget 2015: Institute of Chartered Accountants says George Osborne should simplify taxes June 15, 2015 The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) is calling upon chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne to simplify the tax code in his forthcoming summer Budget. With the Conservative Budget just three weeks away, the ICAEW said today that the government’s previously-announced plans to cut red tape and reduce costs to British [...]