The last resort: With travel operators running into trouble, here’s how to protect your holiday August 7, 2019 When you’ve spent hundreds or even thousands of pounds to escape to somewhere sunny for the summer holidays, you may have to stifle a scream when you find out that your travel operator has gone bust days before you were set to fly. This scenario will sound all too familiar to many families, after news [...]
Avoid these 8 financial mistakes in your marriage August 1, 2019 For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer – until death do us part. Sadly, with money fights being the second leading cause of divorce behind infidelity, many of us do not adhere to this marriage vow. Read more: What are banks doing to help survivors of financial abuse? Few individuals consider financial compatibility before [...]
FCA calls for contingent charging ban on pension transfer advice July 30, 2019 Britain’s markets watchdog has proposed banning financial advisers from getting paid only when a customer moves a pension pot, a practice known as contingent charging that it said cost consumers £2bn per year. MPs called for the ban last year after accusing the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of being too slow to prevent “vulture” advisers [...]
What are the banks doing to help survivors of financial abuse? July 29, 2019 Money ultimately brings us freedom, so what if your partner were to restrict access to your income or bank account? It’s not uncommon for perpetrators of domestic abuse to manipulate their partners through money in this way – in fact, according to Women’s Aid, a third of survivors say that their access to cash during [...]
FCA tries to take consumers back to the nineties ahead of PPI deadline July 29, 2019 The animatronic head of Arnold Schwarzenegger and the eight-time world memory champion have been enlisted by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to help consumers remember if they were mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance (PPI). With a month to go before the deadline for making PPI complaints to providers, the FCA has launched a campaign that aims [...]
Pension savings are being left in cash after M&G property fund blocks withdrawals July 17, 2019 M&G, which is owned by Prudential, insists that the deferral is not related to Brexit or the wider property market
Regulator investigates ‘shape-shifting’ firms who shirk duties on employee pensions July 17, 2019 The Pensions Regulator said today it will hunt down companies that change their names to dodge workplace pension obligations. Several small and medium-sized employers have tried to employ “shape-shifting” tactics to avoid paying their staff’s pensions, it said. Those breaching their auto-enrolment duties could be subject to “short-notice inspections”. Read more: Prudential UK property fund delays [...]
Stop nudging people towards property at the expense of their pension – it’s irresponsible July 16, 2019 Suggestions that young workers should be able to dip into their pension savings to help buy their first home are unhelpful
‘Part-time pensions penalty’ slashes women’s retirement pots July 11, 2019 Women are on average £106,000 worse off in retirement than men, partly because such a high proportion work part-time, according to research. By their 60s, women typically have £51,100 in their pension – just one third of an average man’s £156,500 pot, the Pensions Policy Institute has calculated. Read more: Without action, a crisis over [...]
Prudential UK property fund delays withdrawals for up to six months July 4, 2019 Last week Bank of England governor Mark Carney said these types of funds were "built on a lie"