Filing your tax return for 2015-16: The questions you want answered January 25, 2017 If you've put off doing your tax return, I don’t blame you. It is hard to find the motivation to forage around for all those documents, only to part with your hard-earned cash. The bad news is that if you haven’t already got the ball rolling on your self-assessment form for the 2015-16 tax year, [...]
Undercover investigation reveals raft of failings from data-selling firms January 21, 2017 An undercover investigation has revealed the miniscule cost of buying personal information from data-selling firms. Posing as a would-be pension scammer, consumer group Which managed to access details of members of the public for as little as 4p. The investigation also highlighted significant failings by data-selling firms in undertaking sufficient due diligence on who it is [...]
Can you remember all the details? Millions of older pension pots are being lost, research suggests January 19, 2017 Millions more Britons may now be saving into pension pots, but over a fifth are losing track of retirement savings as result of holding multiple schemes. Research by Aegon revealed 62 per cent of people now have more than one pension scheme, usually as a result of changing jobs or employers changing providers. Read more: It's [...]
Tata Steel: Infrastructure investment is the key to solving the pension problem, says City heavy-hitter January 18, 2017 Hopes British Steel pension scheme members could be paid in full were raised today after a City heavy-hitter proposed a radical deal to spin-off the mammoth £15bn fund. Tata Steel is currently in talks with German industrials firm Thyssenkrupp to buy its European operations – a deal understood to only go ahead if the pension scheme, which serves 130,000 members, can [...]
Just when it was all going so well, the pensions levy might be about to ruin the auto enrolment party January 18, 2017 Stop the clock: the DWP’s consultation on the pensions levy ended this morning. So far, so boring. Well – boring but important for things like fairness, competition and the state not interfering in the private sector or distorting markets… those sorts of mundane things. The situation: The Pensions Regulator collects a flat annual “pensions levy” per [...]
Pension freedoms: Lump sum take-up could lead to widespread pension poverty January 18, 2017 Britons are set to take advantage of accessing lump sums from pension pots at record levels in 2017, something that could increase the chances of widespread pensioner poverty, a retirement specialist has warned. FTSE 250 firm Just, previously called Just Retirement, revealed that as more people than ever will reach their 55th birthday in 2017, [...]
How to invest your bonus: If you’re not off to the McLaren dealership, topping up a pension makes good sense January 18, 2017 Industry experts have warned that bonus season in the Square Mile might not be so bumper this year. In December, research by Emolument.com indicated that just 40 per cent of bankers in mergers and acquisitions found their sweetener satisfactory. And this week, the market leader of PwC’s global financial services HR consulting practice has warned that [...]
Tata Steel pension scheme edges towards safety January 13, 2017 Tata Steel is one step closer to saving its £15bn retirement scheme from falling into the government's pension lifeboat. A statement from the British Steel Pension Scheme trustees revealed Tata Steel had initiated talks with both scheme trustees and "relevant regulatory bodies". Read more: German steel giant in talks with Tata hit by "massive" cyber attack Tata Steel, [...]
UK’s pension lifeboat gets lower in the water as deficits soar in December January 10, 2017 Pension shortfalls grew at a rate of nearly £1bn a day during December, figures released by the UK's pension lifeboat have revealed. The Pension Protection Fund (PPF), into which defined benefit pension schemes fall upon corporate insolvency, calculated an aggregate deficit for the 5,794 schemes covered of £224bn at the end of December. The shortfall grew [...]
Turkey business Bernard Matthews faces pension probe January 9, 2017 The pensions lifeboat is looking into the retirement plans of a turkey company that went into administration last year. Bernard Matthews was acquired from private equity firm Rutland Partners by 2 Sisters in September. 2 Sisters, whose chief executive Ranjit Boparan is known as the “chicken king”, agreed the deal under a pre-pack administration, meaning it bought [...]