Deciding what to do with your pension savings is an important step we will all have to take. Following changes introduced in April 2015, you now have more choice and flexibility than ever before over how and when you can take money from your pension pot. These changes give you freedom over how you can use your pension pot(s) if you’re 55 or over and have a pension based on how much has been paid into your pot (a defined contribution scheme).
Protecting your family should underpin financial planning, and it can also be a key business tool or estate planning mechanism. But, despite this, MORE THAN one in five (21%) people admit their household would not be financially secure for any length of time if it lost its main income through unexpected circumstances.
One of the main innovations in both finance and technology over the past few years has been the advent of crowdfunding. Crowdfunding is a way of raising finance by asking a large number of investors each for a small amount of money.
If you’ve accumulated numerous workplace pensions over the years from different employers, it can be difficult to keep track of how they are performing. The process of bringing all your pensions together is called ‘consolidation’.
Multigenerational households could be set to grow in popularity as property costs continue to rise. A new report from Aviva suggests that based on the rate of growth seen in the past 10 years – and assuming house prices will continue to rise – there could be 2.2 million people living in multi-family households and 3.8 million 21–34-year olds living with their parents by 2025.
Protecting your estate is ultimately about securing more of your wealth for your loved ones and planning for what will happen after your death to make the lives of your loved ones much easier.
The prospect of saving for tomorrow may feel too distant for some, but to achieve long-term goals (including financial security in retirement) we all need to consider reprioritising our needs to give ourselves a better financial future. But, more than four in ten Britons in their 30s and 40s (45%) are stopping any future saving in favour of spending their cash, according to Scottish Widows’ tenth annual Savings Study.
While diversification is important, you should keep in mind how much risk you are prepared to accept on your money. If it is important to you to avoid losses, you may want a portfolio that has less in shares and more in cash and fixed interest securities held to maturity, for example.
Britain’s over 50s are splashing their extra income they receive once they’ve paid off their mortgages on holidays, home improvements and gifts for their children[1], while less than one in four are using the money to top up their retirement savings, new research from Saga Investment Services has found.
People are still being left confused by pensions, with almost two thirds not understanding their key features, according to new research by Wesleyan.