In his Autumn Statement, on 29 November 2011, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne announced that the State Pension age will now increase to 67 between 2026 and 2028. The government said it took this decision because of increasing life expectancy, to help manage the cost of State Pensions. If you were born in the 1960s, find out how you could be affected.
Providing retirement benefits based on the accumulation of a ‘pot’ of money
A personal pension plan is a type of defined contribution arrangement. This scheme provides retirement benefits based on the accumulation of a ‘pot’ of money, accumulated through the investment of contributions paid by both the employee and the employer. It is essentially an investment policy that provides an income in retirement. It is available to any UK resident who is under 75 years of age.
The sooner you start saving for your retirement
the more secure your future will be
Saving for your retirement may not seem important when you’re starting out. But the sooner you start saving for your retirement the more secure your future will be.
Effective inheritance tax planning could save your beneficiaries thousands of pounds, maybe even hundreds of thousands depending on the size of your estate. At its simplest, inheritance tax (IHT) is the tax payable on your estate when you die if the value of your estate exceeds a certain amount.
An investment bond is a single premium life insurance policy and is a potentially tax-efficient way of holding a range of investment funds in one place. They can be a good way of allowing you to invest in a mixture of investment funds that are managed by professional investment managers.
If you require your money to provide the potential for capital growth or income, or a combination of both, provided you are willing to accept an element of risk pooled investments could just be the solution you are looking for. A pooled investment allows you to invest in a large, professionally managed portfolio of assets with many other investors. As a result of this, the risk is reduced due to the wider spread of investments in the portfolio.
Some 6.1m of today’s over-50s expect to work past the current state retirement age, according to data from LV=’s Working Late Index. The report reveals that, on average, those planning to work past state retirement age will work for an extra six years, which could see them retiring at age 71 for men and 66 for women based on today’s retirement age.
Generating a retirement income has now become even more flexible. From 6 April, new rules were introduced to replace the previous pension drawdown arrangement which have now provided investors with greater flexibility and control over their pension options when they retire.
British collective investment funds that pool money from lots of investors go back to 1868. The first funds were investment companies – listed companies that offer shares to investors and then buy shares in other companies with the monies they collect in. Just like fully functioning companies, investment companies have boards of directors to oversee the managers’ efforts, shareholders with voting rights, and reports and accounts.
The merits of the new Junior Individual Savings Account (ISA) are clear according to Fidelity Worldwide Investments but where to invest the allowance needs consideration. With the current low interest-rate environment many savers who would have not contemplated investing in funds may now decide to do so in order to avoid the inflationary risk which comes with cash investments.