New research by Standard Life has revealed that a worrying three in every four people (75 per cent) are ignorant of how much they have saved in their pensions. Perhaps even more alarmingly, the study found that as many as 79 per cent – four in every five – of those aged between 55 and 64 could […]

An estimated 41,000 taxpayers incurred an inheritance tax liability on death in 2022/23, according to new HMRC data – a 24% increase on the previous year (33,000), leading experts to advise homeowners, or those with large savings and investments, to act now to avoid their families losing out in the future. The freeze in the […]

Have you ever found yourself cursing at the older driver in front for dithering trying to park their car, or driving too slowly along a main road? Perhaps you have older relatives who you think should no longer be behind the wheel. So are you being reasonable… or ageist? By Tony Watts OBE Overall, people […]

One of the least unexpected parts of a Budget, most of which had been flagged up in advance, was tackling the LTA. But has the Chancellor blown up a good idea by going too far?  By Tony Watts OBE One of the major headline announcements of the recent Budget was the scrapping of the lifetime […]

If you’ve found yourself doing a Blondie impression recently, and hanging on the telephone for hours trying to boost your future State Pension, you can relax (for now, anyway). An under-siege (and under-resourced) DWP has bowed to public and media pressure and extended its deadline for workers to significantly boost their state pensions by catching […]

There is mounting evidence that squeezed savers are being forced to turn to their pension pots to make ends meet during the cost-of-living crisis after the Government has admitted that a quarter of pension savers over 55 contributed above the money purchase annual allowance (MPAA) in 2020/21. Online investment company AJ Bell wrote to the […]

Have you been contemplating helping out a younger member of your family? Then you’re not alone. New research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) shows that £17 billion is gifted or loaned informally each year, almost all from parents to their adult children – mostly to help with buying a house or at the […]

If employers want to solve their recruitment crisis, then they should be looking hard at the pension they are offering – and the advice they are providing for their staff’s retirement finances. That’s the biggest takeaway from a new survey of HR professionals by Punter Southall Aspire. For the last two years, flexible working has […]

Depending upon the standard of living you are aspiring to in retirement, inflation in 2022 has added between 11 and 20% to the cost, with implications for the pension pots people will need to save. According to the latest inflation update of the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association’s Retirement Living Standards, those on the “Minimum” […]

After a year many of us will want to see the back of, we can only hope that 2023 will be a little kinder on our nerves… and our wallets. Financial services company Hargreaves Lansdown has put together a timeline of events that could impact upon savers and taxpayers in the coming 12 months, and […]