The Bank of England halved its base rate in August. By the end of the year, it could be lower still. At its first formal meeting after the Brexit vote, in early July the Bank of England's interest rate setters (the Monetary Policy Committee) surprised some economists by not cutting rates. The (non-) move resurrected…
Read moreThe fall in interest rates is boosting some pension transfer values. Pension scheme deficits have been hitting the headlines again, and not just those of BHS. The Bank of England's efforts to bolster the post-referendum economy have been to blame. On one widely quoted measure - the Pension Protection Fund's PPF7800 Index - the overall…
Read moreThe interim procedure for claiming the 2016 pension protections has come to an end. The referendum vote has disrupted many plans and timetables this year. Among them is the passage of the Finance Bill, which in any other year would by now have been given Royal Assent and become a Finance Act. In 2016 it…
Read moreThe Bank of England may have finally ended speculation and dropped the interest rate from 0.5% to a new low of 0.25%, but there are plenty of savings accounts already paying less. Last month the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published "sunlight remedy" data, showing the lowest interest rates (as at 1 April 2016) offered by…
Read moreThe Brexit-induced decline in the value of the pound has brought some good news for investors. "The Brexit vote has completely changed the picture for dividends this year and beyond." So said Capita, one of the UK's main share registrars in its second quarter Dividend Monitor. In the first quarter edition, Capita had forecast a…
Read moreJuly saw several major property funds suspend dealings. One of the unexpected outcomes of the UK's vote to leave the European Union on 23 June has been that at least eight property funds have suspended dealings, meaning that investors cannot cash in their holdings. Some other funds have applied large discounts to prices for those…
Read moreThe UK now has a new Prime Minister and a new Chancellor, but will tax policy change? If you went on an overseas holiday in the second week of July, you left the UK with David Cameron as Prime Minister and George Osborne as Chancellor, but by your return the country was in the hands…
Read moreThe Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) is writing to over 100,000 people with bad news about their state pension. The new single-tier state pension was launched in April of this year, but the way in which it was introduced has drawn much criticism. The heavy emphasis given in DWP publicity to the flat amount…
Read moreThe Royal Mint is offering gold bars to Self invested pension investors. The rules on what investments can be held within a self-invested personal pension (SIPP) are simple: you can choose anything. However - and it is a very significant however - certain assets, such as art and residential property, are classed as "taxable property"…
Read moreOne of the UK's biggest insurance companies has withdrawn from the advisory annuity market. The pension freedom reforms revealed in the 2014 Budget claimed another victim last month as the Prudential announced it would no longer provide annuities via financial advisers. Earlier in the year two specialist annuity providers merged in the face of declining…
Read moreNot everything your bank pays you counts towards the personal savings allowance. When the personal savings allowance (PSA) was first announced in the March 2015 Budget, it all sounded quite straightforward: If you were a basic rate taxpayer, you had a £1,000 allowance to set against savings income; If you were a higher rate taxpayer,…
Read moreThe Treasury has issued a consultation paper on changes to the taxation of single premium investment bonds following a long-running tax tribunal case. Single premium investment bonds have long been a popular way of investing for both individuals and trustees. One of their plus points for many investors is that there is generally nothing to…
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Well we all made it through the first week post the Brexit vote. Let's not go over old ground except to say that the relative calm of financial markets has more to do with the promise of more QE than anything else. Housebuilders and banks have come under sustained pressure, but like many cyclicals there…
Read moreIt is not only BHS which is keeping the Pensions Regulator busy. The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has been in the headlines recently following the demise of BHS and the issues surrounding the store group's £571m pension deficit. The BHS pension problem stems in part from the type of scheme it used to offer its employees…
Read moreGood Evening So we have made it through the third day after the historic vote to leave Europe. The FTSE finished 200 points down on Friday and 156 points today but gained today by 158 points. We would have taken that at 6.00 Friday morning! Unsurprisingly the pound has fallen to its lowest levels since…
Read moreIndependent research shows that if you feel you're paying more income tax than you used to, you're probably right. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) is an independent body that has established a reputation for objectivity in tax matters. Its former head, Robert Chote, is now in charge of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR),…
Read moreRecent research shows that UK household savings are forecast to fall to their lowest rate in over 50 years. A report produced by the Centre for Economics and Social Research (CEBR) has forecast that UK household savings will fall to just 3.8% of disposable income this year, its lowest level since 1963. The ratio was…
Read moreWorld leaders have been urged to put an end to tax havens in a letter signed by a number of leading economists. More than 300 top economists, including Thomas Piketty and 2015 Nobel Prize economics winner Angus Deaton have stated that there is no economic benefit to tax havens and are pressing world leaders at…
Read moreThe Pensions Regulator (TPR) has issued a warning to small companies that fail to heed 28-day warning notices to enrol their staff in pension schemes. The regulator states that firms could be hit with a fine that will rise with every passing day until they comply. 95% of small firms who are required to auto-enrol…
Read moreYou may regard the bookmakers as a strange source of research for an adviser to base an opinion but unlike most of the agenda based advice we hear and read it is the bookmaker who has a vested financial interest to get it right! The bookmakers are rarely wrong when it comes to events like…
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