UK pensions: Only three per cent of employers have helped staff understand changes to the lifetime and annual allowance for pension contributions, which are due to come in this April February 16, 2016 Some big changes are on the horizon for pensions, but just a handful of businesses are taking action to help their employees understand them, according to a new survey. Research released today by Close Brothers Asset Management has discovered that only three per cent of employers are offering specific support to staff members who are likely [...]
Pension changes mean it’s time to talk to your boss: Drop in the annual allowance will catch City workers out February 15, 2016 TIME is running out for higher earners to re-negotiate their pension packages before planned new changes to the tax system kick in this April. The amount people can save tax-free in a pension each year will drop, with special rules coming in for anyone earning over £150,000. Experts are advising city workers to check their [...]
Relax, you’ll be a millionaire by 2050 – and other predictions for the future February 15, 2016 Sit back, take it easy and stop worrying about money – you'll be a millionaire by 2050. Unfortunately, so will everyone else, making the millionaire milestone a little less special, but earnings will still grow at an annual rate of two per cent, doubling in real terms. That's just one of the predictions for mid-century life in [...]
UK pensions: When can you afford to retire? Never or at least not until your 70s if you want to be comfortable, according to a report out today February 15, 2016 Today's workers will need to keep plugging away well into their golden years if they want to afford the same standard of retirement as their parents, a report out today has found. The study by pensions company Royal London discovered that people on average earnings would need to continue to work until they are 77 [...]
UK pensions: Shift to a flat rate of pension tax relief would cause a retirement crisis for millions in the squeezed middle February 14, 2016 A move to a flat rate of pensions tax relief would adversely affect savers in the squeezed middle who are paying at the higher rate tax bracket, causing a retirement crisis by discouraging them from saving, a pensions consultancy has today warned. "A move to a flat rate of tax relief redistributes tax relief away from additional rate taxpayers, [...]
Don’t dump upfront pensions tax relief: Why a Pensions Isa won’t drive people to save February 12, 2016 A pensions revolution may truly be upon us. Hats off then to City A.M. whose reporting has led the way in publicising the Treasury’s activities in advance of potential changes to how Britain incentivises pension saving. The lurid comparison with Gordon Brown and his 1997 abolition of dividend tax credits made by former pensions minister Steve [...]
Royal London results: New business and funds under management increase, while group chief executive Phil Loney voices dislike of pension Isas February 10, 2016 The boss of one of the UK's most well-known pensions companies has slammed the idea of a pension Isa this morning. When Royal London announced its results for the 12 months ended December 2015 today, group chief executive Phil Loney also took the opportunity to sound a warning to George Osborne not to introduce a pensions [...]
Don’t overhaul private pensions for the sake of saving money, chancellor February 9, 2016 George Osborne has been a radical on private pensions. The 2014 Budget decision to allow individuals to opt-out of purchasing an annuity was a true liberalising measure, enabling people to access their pension pots and use their own savings as they see fit. Yet now it is rumoured that the chancellor might announce a complete [...]
Former pensions minister Steve Webb warns chancellor George Osborne: Don’t become the ghost of Gordon Brown February 5, 2016 Former pensions minister Steve Webb will today urge chancellor George Osborne to abandon proposals for a controversial change to the pensions system. Webb, who was pensions minister in the coalition and is now director of policy at Royal London, will warn Osborne not to repeat the mistakes of his Labour predecessor Gordon Brown by fiddling [...]
Violence breaks out in Athens’ Syntagma Square during mass rally against pensions reforms February 4, 2016 Violence has broken out in Athens' Syntagma Square during a mass rally demonstrating against pensions reforms. Images from the protests show riot police dealing with outbreaks of a fire after a group of masked individuals were seen throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at police. Witnesses told Reuters that fights erupted between protesters and police on the [...]