100-year life: Investment plans for the longer life challenge
A multi-stage career model necessitates a change in pension strategies, writes Maiyuresh Rajah. Average life expectancy continues to increase and we are getting ever closer to a time where a 100-year...
View ArticleTim Holmes: The pros and cons of taking the DB transfer carrot
Clients may well find the lure of increased flexibility to access funds compelling but at what cost? Tim Holmes weighs up the arguments for and against transferring out of defined benefit pension...
View ArticleAegon rules out move into DB transfer advice
Provider Aegon has ruled out venturing into financial advice on defined benefit (DB) pension transfers, saying it does “not wish to compete with advisers”. The firm’s pension director Steven Cameron...
View ArticleOver-55s are three times more likely to opt out, says Now Pensions
More than a fifth of over-55s have opted out of auto-enrolment (AE), Now Pensions’ customer data has suggested. Nearly a quarter (22%) of over-55s have opted out of the master trust, a rate almost...
View ArticleDefined benefit transfers: Will the momentum last?
Alastair Black analyses whether the surge in demand for transfer advice has become the norm. Financial advisers, TVAS providers and scheme administrators are being stretched to the limit by an...
View ArticleJessica List: All in the timing
Jessica List wonders how can anyone be expected to plan for retirement when it now appears the lifetime of some legislative measures can be managed not in terms of years but months or even weeks. Last...
View ArticleEquity release: Expanding options fuel the growth story
Dean Mirfin looks at the reasons behind the record-breaking sales in the equity release market. The records keep on being broken in the equity release market, as each update brings new highs for plan...
View ArticleAnn Stanyer: Help protect elderly clients against hidden abuse
For every instance of financial abuse that comes to light, 24 cases are thought to go unreported and, says Ann Stanyer, professional advisers have a real gatekeeper role to assist in protecting...
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Inquiry: Pensions dashboard seems doomed to failure
Although the dashboard could help consumers get on top of their finances, there are widespread concerns about its design and readiness, as this month’s RP Inquiry found. When the pensions dashboard...
View ArticleNeil MacGillivray: Averting ‘the financial equivalent of climate change’
The scary thing about all the election manifestos, says Neil MacGillivray, is every party seems to be burying its head in the sand and ignoring the fact a cataclysmic pension landslide is descending...
View ArticleHave your say: Should the rich be excluded from the state pension?
It was recently suggested the richest people in the UK should not be entitled to receive the state pension. This month’s RP Inquiry wants to know what you think of the proposal. * Would it be fair, in...
View ArticleElaine Turtle: It’s time to crack this code
Elaine Turtle highlights the lack of awareness – and consensus – that exists with regard to Legal Entity Identifier codes for SIPP and SSAS products. Having been involved with the Association of Member...
View ArticleTPR undertakes AE spot checks on Manchester employers
The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has carried out spot checks in Greater Manchester to ensure employers are complying with their automatic enrolment (AE) responsibilities. The move is part of a nationwide...
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Allowance taper: Another year of complications
Bernadette Lewis considers the effects of the annual allowance taper on clients over two individual tax years. Since 6 April 2016 clients on a high income have had their annual allowance for tax relief...
View ArticleIntelligent Pensions suspends DB transfer business following FCA intervention
Glasgow-based retirement specialist Intelligent Pensions has agreed with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to suspend its defined benefit (DB) transfer business. The firm said it was working with...
View ArticleAltmann: LISA is ‘fudge dreamed up in last 10 days’ of pension tax consultation
Former pensions minister Ros Altmann described the lifetime ISA (LISA) as the “death-knell” for pensions, saying she feared people may misunderstand the benefits of a traditional retirement fund....
View ArticleGetting equal: New pensions world needs new statements
LV= is calling for a change to the way pension providers issue annual statements, writes Philip Brown. The pension reforms created a new environment that requires consumers to take a much more...
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Adrian Boulding: Building Societies set to embrace cash LISA
Adrian Boulding explains why he is becoming increasingly convinced there is room for both pensions and the new Lifetime ISA to flourish in the long-term savings market. This year will see a steady...
View ArticleWill trusts: A vital tool for inheritance planning
Putting trust clauses in wills can be advantageous despite the residential nil-rate band, as Paul Wilcox explains. Making a will is the cornerstone of retirement planning, but many do not realise how...
View ArticleDB transfer value volatility continues throughout May
May, like April, proved a volatile month for defined benefit (DB) pension transfers, with transfer values being affected by a variation in gilt yields, the latest Xafinity Transfer Value Index has...
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