Inheritance Tax (IHT) in the UK may be one of life’s unpleasant facts but IHT planning and quality advice could help you pay less tax on your estate.
Commodities have received much media coverage over the past year, with prices rising as other asset classes falter. Investing in commodities within your portfolio may not only create exposure to different investment products, but can also help reduce risk, hedge inflation and diversify your overall investing strategy.
The turbulence that has gripped financial markets is a response to the perception that politicians in the Eurozone and the US have been slow to face up to issues of indebtedness.
Before you can start planning your retirement, you need to understand how the money you’ve built up in your pension will be used to provide you with an income when you retire. One of the options you could choose is to invest most of your pension in an annuity, which pays you a regular income throughout your retirement years.
There are numerous ways of saving for retirement, including various types of pensions. The government views retirement savings as being so important that it offers generous tax benefits to encourage us to make our own pension provision. It is usually also the case that you may be able to contribute to more than one pension – for example, if appropriate, you could contribute to a Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) as well as to your company pension scheme.
How much money do you need to save to secure the kind of pension you would like to live on when you retire? It’s a question that concerns everyone saving for their retirement.
Decreasing term assurance
Decreasing term assurance can be arranged to cover a potential Inheritance Tax liability and used as a Gift Inter Vivos policy (a gift given during the life of the grantor who no longer has any rights to the property and can not get it back without the permission of the party it was gifted to). This is a type of decreasing term plan that actually reduces at the same rate as the chargeable Inheritance Tax on an estate as a result of a Potentially Exempt Transfer (PET).
There are some important exemptions that allow you to legally pass your estate on to others, both before and after your death, without it being subject to Inheritance Tax.
A trust is a legal arrangement where one or more trustees are made legally responsible for assets. The assets – such as land, money, buildings, shares or even antiques – are placed in trust for the benefit of one or more beneficiaries.