Why financial advice is more important than ever The Chancellor unveiled her latest Budget following weeks of leaks and a high-profile- misstep by the OBR that dominated headlines. Cutting through the noise of political spin and media commentary, one fact stands out: taxes are set to climb to unprecedented levels by 2031. Within just five years, the tax burden is forecast to reach 38% of GDP, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility - one of the highest sustained lev

A new report has shown conflicting ideas about retirement.* The report included two questions: Question 1: At what age would you like to retire? Question 2: At what age do you think you will be able to retire? If your answers to those two questions are different, then you are not alone. The report found that the average answer to question 1 was 62.3 years old, while for question 2 it was 67.0, a gap of nearly half a decade. The difference was just 0.9 years for baby boomers –

Nine months into 2025, investment performance may not be what you expect. Source: Investing.com * The daily blog from Financial Times, FT Alphaville, runs a competition every Friday for a trivial prize, such as a T-shirt. The quiz typically involves a trio of graphs with the same question applied to each one: what is being plotted? The answers are usually esoteric: two recent examples were an Argentinian government bond and two classes of debt from First Brands, a US car part

HMRC’s latest statistics show a jump in unclaimed Child Trust Funds (CTFs) to over £1,500,000,000.* CTFs had only a brief existence. They were launched in January 2005 by the previous Labour government and survived for just six years, before being culled by the Conservative /LibDem coalition government in 2011, shortly after it came to power.** While the main reason for their demise was financial, it was also a fact that CTFs failed to capture the public imagination. Over a q

The ingredients to determine next April’s increase in the State pension are now clear and suggest a problem deferred until the 2026 Budget. Source: DWP, HMRC The basis for increases to the old and new State pension is the ‘triple lock’, which sets the change in April to be the greater of: Earnings growth for the period May to July in the previous year, Consumer Price Index inflation to September of the previous year, or 2.5%. The earnings growth figure, 4.7%, was published in

A new survey has revealed a high level of public unawareness of impending pension changes and the need to plan. While there is plenty of media attention on what surprises might emerge in the November Budget, new research has suggested that many people are unaware of pensions reforms and changes to tax already in train. A survey of 1,500 people aged 45 and over undertaken for a UK wealth manager revealed: More than half of respondents were “not at all aware” of upcoming policy

As the Autumn Budget approaches, government bonds are coming back into the spotlight. In what can seem like an effort to confuse, government bonds are often referred to as gilts. There are two good reasons for the name: In the distant era of paper certificates, government bonds were on gilt-edged paper. There has never been an instance when the UK government has failed to make the payment due. Gilts are effectively IOUs issued by the government to finance the gap between its

Are you considering drawing a lump sum from your pension before the Autumn Budget? One of the major tax benefits of saving through pensions is that, generally, 25% of the pension’s value can be drawn as a lump sum, free of income tax, up to a maximum of £268,275. From the point of view of the law, that cash is defined as a pension commencement lump sum (PCLS) which, as the name suggests, must be taken at the same time pension income starts to be drawn. In practice, the level

The former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner’s recent problems with stamp duty land tax (SDLT) offer a salutary lesson. In early...

The government has published its reply to the many responses made to last October’s consultation paper on bringing pensions within the...

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have been surveying 40–75 year olds, with some interesting responses. The DWP have recently...

August’s cut in interest rates of 0.25% was far from straightforward and has implications for future moves. Source: Bank of England The...

Shortly before Parliament closed for its summer holidays, the government announced a review of the State pension age (SPA). Pensioners...

It is once more time to turn from sunny thoughts of summer holidays to dark contemplation of the Autumn Budget. In July 2024, Rachel...

New research from HMRC show company cars are becoming more common – and greener. Source: HMRC Recent statistics issued by HMRC show that...

With changes to Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) expected in the Autumn Budget, one existing variant has been heavily criticised by the...

A new pensions bill has been introduced, which could affect your existing pensions. Pension legislation is almost a staple of...

New research suggests some retirement costs have fallen, but there is a twist… How much net income do you need each year for a minimum,...

The Law Commission has made a variety of proposals to reform the law governing wills in England and Wales. What were you doing in 1837?...

In late May, HMRC published a report – based on data collected in summer 2023 and dated January 2024 – that had been held back for...