Adviser vents frustration as Now: Pensions declines detailed Letter of Authority
Workplace pension provider Now: Pensions rejected a Letter of Authority (LoA) from an adviser on behalf of their client despite receiving all relevant information. The adviser, who preferred not to be...
View ArticleHigher rate taxpayers face pension pot ‘dent’ under rumoured 25% flat rate...
A new 25% flat rate on pensions tax relief would create a “big dent” in the pension pots of higher rate and additional rate taxpayers if it goes ahead, Aegon warns. There are rumours that Chancellor...
View ArticleChris Read: Finding optimism by embracing the unknown
As we are now midway through ‘Lockdown 2.0’, many will be angered and frustrated, wishing an end one way or another. Others have readjusted to their more comfortable home working arrangements....
View ArticleJoshua Croft: Clarifying carry forward
When the annual allowance was originally introduced in 2006 pension savers could contribute up to £215,000 without a penalty, and by the 2010/11 tax year the annual allowance reached £255,000. But...
View ArticleRPI to be reformed in 2030 but no compensation for gilt holders
The Retail Prices Index (RPI) will be reformed and aligned with the housing cost-based version of the Consumer Prices Index, known as CPIH, by 2030, the Treasury has confirmed. As part of the...
View ArticleSunak’s Spending Review ‘sobering’ as Covid leaves ‘scars’ on UK economy
Chancellor Rishi Sunak delivered a “sobering picture” of the UK economy in his one-year Spending Review, with Covid-19 leaving “long-lasting” scars, according to industry commentators, who predict...
View ArticleJessica List: The importance of SIPP market due diligence
The Financial Ombudsman Service recently published its latest complaints data, showing a spike in complaints relating to personal pensions and self-invested personal pensions (SIPP). Many of those...
View ArticleAdrian Boulding: SSAS market ripe for service upgrade
In the early weeks of what may become known as the ‘first lockdown’, The Pensions Regulator (TPR) put out its ‘DC Trust: scheme return data 2019-20′. It provides the latest snapshot for the health of...
View ArticleHow are advisers helping clients with redundancy during the pandemic?
Being made redundant can be a huge challenge and advisers can a play a vital role in helping a clients adjust to their new circumstances. While the economy has somewhat bounced back from the economic...
View ArticleCurtis Banks hikes SIPP charges for ‘better balance between fee income and...
Curtis Banks has increased its mid SIPP annual administration fee and full SIPP fee. The firm’s mid SIPP annual administration fee will rise from £260 to £310, while the full SIPP charge will jump from...
View ArticleKarl Dines: Demonstrating financial advice charges are fair and clear
In the first of this series of three articles, we explored the butterfly effect and the early days of the Retail Distribution Review (RDR). The world didn’t end but it did profoundly change the way...
View ArticleChris Read: Be prepared for inevitable business change
After 20 days in Uganda, I am now back in the UK. The temperature has dropped somewhat and there are fewer leaves on the trees. Other than that, nothing much has changed despite Lockdown No 2 nearing...
View ArticleAdrian Boulding: SSAS advantages in 10 key points
Small self-administered scheme (SSAS) pensions came into being way back in 1974 in the depths of the three day week when Britain was still the ‘the sick man of Europe’. The SSAS market grew...
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Jason Green: Pension providers’ adoption of open banking
Open banking is rapidly growing in popularity with more than two million consumers now using open banking-enabled products. However, only three of the workplace pension providers in our analysis...
View ArticleJeremy Martin: With choice comes responsibility
It’s been five years since the introduction of pensions freedom, and for many, it’s been a phenomenal success. It’s allowed numerous pension plan holders to exercise the power of choice as to how they...
View ArticleRachel Vahey: Administrators handed ‘nuclear’ option to halt scams
Pension and investment scams are often catastrophic and can rob someone of their lifetime’s savings leaving them destitute to face a miserable older age. The government, MPs, regulators, law enforcers...
View ArticleRP case studies: A single investment portfolio client
Anne is a self-employed media consultant who specialises in the field of biotechnology. Over the years, she has accumulated a significant pension fund as result of maximising pension contributions as...
View ArticleRP case studies: Spruced up SSAS returns leave clients feeling festive
Pine Needles is a forestry company based in Keswick in Cumbria, which specialises in growing and selling Christmas trees. After trading successfully for ten years renting land from a local landowner,...
View ArticleTory govt ‘unlikely’ to back Covid-19 wealth tax plans
A one-off wealth tax to pay off the Covid-19 deficit has been dismissed by tax experts who say a Conservative administration is unlikely to back the recommendations outlined in a report. The report, A...
View ArticleChris Jones: Planning for uncertainty of life
“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans”, said John Lennon over half a century ago. Disregarding the fact that he also went on to say: “I am the walrus, goo-goo-g’joob”, the...
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