How well do YOU understand the offside rule in football? Apparently, almost three in five people (59%) can confidently describe football’s offside rule; and more than half (53%) know what VAR (Virtual assistant Referee)  stands for. The same percentage (53%) know that 30 minutes of extra time could be played if the final result of […]

Both main political parties will be keen to put some “clear blue water” between themselves and their rivals in the weeks ahead on a whole range of policies. But what should savers and investors be watching for in the opposing manifestos and speeches? By Tony Watts OBE. “It’s the economy, stupid”, goes the oft-quoted refrain […]

All over the world, as populations age and the numbers of working age people “coming through the system” goes down, countries are looking to raise their state retirement age… many have staged increases already planned. So how does the UK rank in all of this, and when can you expect to enjoy the five-figure annual […]

What is the average income in retirement for today’s retirees… where is the income coming from, which regions are doing best and what trends can we see emerging? New data from the ONS reveals all. The Family Resources Survey (FRS) for the financial year ending (FYE) 2023 has just been published by ONS and it […]

As part of the major ongoing Pensions Review being undertaken by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, aimed at finding ways to improve the future of financial security in retirement, a new poll of 3,000 people of working age has revealed widespread confusion about how much they can expect to receive in retirement. As part of […]

How much would you need to put aside in order to receive the full state pension? The figures are in and they make a compelling argument to keep your contributions topped up. Many, but not all of us, will be heading into retirement with the prospect of a full state pension to look forward to. […]

Arguably one of the best value forms of pension savings is the state pension; and, regardless of your other investments and savings, if you are short of NI contributions to ensure you receive the full amount on reaching the State Pension Age (SPA) now is the time to act. Someone with ten missing years could […]

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 […]

For those who have spent all or most of our lives as self employed, the State Pension may not have been uppermost in our thinking as we made plans for our retirement. Indeed, it’s more than possible that other priorities have prevailed in some years and contributions have been missed. But the new State Pension […]