Tips for travellers when shopping for a currency card August 23, 2018 Travellers cheques. Remember them? Cue confused expressions from anyone under 25. You may be surprised to hear that some banks still offer these cheques, which can be exchanged when you go abroad for hard currency (though you’re limited to just six of the major currencies). Fortunately, this outdated mode of currency exchange has now been [...]
Proposed new powers for Pensions Regulator would not have stopped Carillion happening, experts say August 22, 2018 A leading pensions consultancy has warned new measures to sharpen the teeth of the sector's regulator may not be enough to prevent another disaster like BHS or Carillion from happening. The government is consulting on proposals that will give The Pensions Regulator (TPR) stronger powers to improve the standards of defined benefit (DB) schemes. This includes giving [...]
Alexa can now let you automatically check the balance of your pension August 21, 2018 Amazon’s Echo Dot gadget can be used for a number of different functions – but now it can even automatically check on the balance of your pension. The smart speaker, which is activated by saying “Alexa” can already switch the lights in your home on and off, read the news and play your music using [...]
Pensioners in the UK shelling out over £24bn in income tax July 9, 2018 The amount pensioners in the UK pay in income tax has ballooned to over £24bn, figures out today have shown. Insurer Royal London obtained the information through freedom of information (FOI) requests to find out how much people over the state pension age were paying to the tax man in different parts of the [...]
Lloyds faces landmark legal action in the High Court over pensions equalisation July 4, 2018 Lloyds Bank could have to fork out up to £508m to equalise its pension scheme if a landmark course case finds it has discriminated against female employees. Three female members of Lloyds' pension scheme claim they have been discriminated against because their pensions increase at a lower rate than their male counterparts. The case, which [...]
Company directors could face fines or jail time for flouting pension rules June 26, 2018 Unscrupulous directors who play fast and loose with their company pension scheme could face time in prison and unlimited fines under new measures tabled by the government today. A consultation was launched today by minister for pensions and financial inclusion guy Opperman which will impose harsher penalties for directors who deliberately or recklessly put funds [...]
Willis Towers Watson completes £85m buy-in deal for Aliaxis Defined Benefit Pension Scheme June 21, 2018 London-based insurer Willis Towers Watson today announced that it had agreed a buy-in deal for £85m of the Aliaxis UK Defined Benefit Pension Scheme with Just Group. The payments were completed in two tranches, split between a £35m sum in November 2016, and a £50m payment last December. The deal covers 350 of the scheme's [...]
CPPIB becomes world’s first pension fund to issue green bonds June 12, 2018 Green bonds will be issued by a pension fund in a world first for the sector. The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) will become the first pension fund to increase its holdings in renewables and energy efficient buildings. CPPIB, which handles a total of $356.1bn assets, says the sale will put more than C$3bn [...]
Half of all UK workers won’t have enough money to retire at state pension age October 27, 2017 Half of workers in the UK won’t have enough money to retire when they reach state pension age, according to research by Age UK. The survey of nearly 1,000 over-40s, found nearly 8m people aged 40 to 64 will not be able to retire when they hit state pension age, which currently stands at 65. [...]
GKN considers debt raise in order to manage £2bn pension shortfall March 19, 2017 Engineering group GKN is preparing to go to debt markets to raise £200m in an attempt to placate the trustees of its pension scheme, according to reports. The FTSE 100 group is in the middle of a three-yearly review of its pension scheme with 2016 accounting valuations revealing its deficit had swelled by £475m over the last 12 months to [...]