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...