Has the time come to privatise pensions? October 16, 2014 Future generations could be short-changed and the public finances put in jeopardy unless the UK takes serious measures to reform the state pension system, according to a report released today by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) One way to give pensioners and taxpayers a better to deal would be to revive savers' ability to [...]
George Osborne’s pensions revolution: Withdrawing cash early is big risk October 14, 2014 The insurance industry and business groups have issued a stark warning following the government’s most recent pensions announcement, claiming that withdrawing cash from pension pots too early could store up huge financial risks for the UK for years to come. Yesterday chancellor George Osborne hailed the next stage in his pensions revolution with news [...]
Lib Dems told to stop tinkering with pensions by industry body October 5, 2014 The Liberal Democrats were rapped over the knuckles by the insurance industry yesterday after the party proposed to reduce the amount of pension pot money on which tax relief could be claimed. Huw Evans, deputy director general at the Association of British Insurers, called the proposal to reduce the lifetime allowance from £1.25m to £1m [...]
Behind a silver screen: Lionsgate’s Zygi Kamasa talks pensioners, big tellies and Colin Firth October 5, 2014 The movie business is known for taking no prisoners. And for those that do try their hand at it, success is often fleeting. But Zygi Kamasa, the UK chief executive of entertainment company Lionsgate, has proved that, by playing your cards right, passion can lead to success. Over the past two decades, he’s been involved [...]
Why the abolition of the pensions death tax is great news for savers September 29, 2014 George Osborne had more good news for retirees and savers yesterday, as he brought forward the announcement that he is abolishing the 55 per cent tax charge applied to some people’s pensions on their death – the so-called pensions death tax. Coming into force in April 2015, and on top of previous pensions liberalisation, the [...]
Conservative Party Conference 2014: George Osborne outlines plans to freeze working-age benefits, abolish pension death tax and cut benefit cap September 29, 2014 Chancellor George Osborne has delivered a host of policy pledges to the Tory faithful at the party's conference in Birmingham today. The chancellor began his speech highlighting the UK's success in reducing unemployment and the deficit. However, Osborne told the conference hall that there was still much to be done, and the recovery faced [...]
Osborne to axe pension death taxes September 29, 2014 CHANCELLOR George Osborne will today continue his pensions revolution, announcing a radical new promise to abolish the 55 per cent pension tax paid at death. It comes as his party seeks to bounce back after Conservative MP Mark Reckless defected to Ukip and Brooks Newmark resigned his post as minister for civil society following a [...]
George Osborne to abolish 55pc inheritance “death tax” on pensions September 28, 2014 A so-called “death tax” on pensions will be scrapped from next April, George Osborne is set to announce at the Tory party conference. The 55 per cent rate applied to inheritances of defined contribution pensions will be abolished at a cost of £150m a year the Treasury predicts. The policy, first floated in July, was [...]
UK consumers have the 10th most valuable pensions, bank deposits and securities in the world September 23, 2014 Global debt has been growing again since the crisis while financial assets have reached a new high of €118tn. According to the Allianz Global Wealth Report, the world has seen the biggest asset growth since 2003, with the UK sitting pretty as the fifth-fastest growing country listed. The newly-preserved union comes in at 10th on the [...]
In charts: Half of women don’t have private pensions September 11, 2014 Despite the maximum state pension being only £113.10 a week, just under half the people in the UK don't pay into a private pension scheme. This includes a third of employees – half of the self-employed and 80 per cent of unemployed people are also without a plan. The data was published by the Office [...]