Tag: independent financial advice

Draw down pensions why they appeal

In July 2009 the UK economy was in a very different state than it is today. We were still trying to come to terms with the shock of the base rate dropping to 0.50% and…

ISAs – or Individual Savings Accounts to give them their full name – have always been a tax-efficient way of holding cash, shares, bonds and collective investments such as unit trusts. They are about to…

The New Year often brings resolutions that last for a while and then somehow get overtaken by events; that annual diet, the idea that a ‘dry January’ would be good, the promise to never play…

Inheritance Tax (IHT) is simply a tax on the money or possessions you leave behind when you die. It also applies to some gifts you may make while you are still alive. A certain amount…

Workplace pensions law has changed. In the biggest pension revolution since wartime prime minister David Lloyd George introduced state pensions, millions of workers are being automatically enrolled into a workplace pension by their employer. Once…

When you retire, your pension does not, in itself, provide an income to support you. In fact you have to make some key decisions about how to convert your pension ‘pot’ into an income stream;…

Sir Mervyn King chose the theme to Channel 4’s cricket coverage, Mambo No 5 by Lou Bega, as one of his ‘desert island discs’ when featured as a castaway on BBC Radio 4 recently. He…

More than 1 in 3 people (38%) who have a private pension have never reviewed their plan, according to new research from Duncan Lawrie Private Bank. Women seem to be less conscientious than men in…

You may have seen articles in the national press about how people in retirement who are ‘asset rich’ but ‘cash poor’ - i.e. they own a valuable property but have a relatively low income -…