An independent report suggests that the State pension age (SPA) should rise much faster than planned. The next SPA rise begins in under two years with a phased increase to 67 ending in April 2028. Yet, neither main political parties are likely to say much about...
A survey of 6,000 people, aged 18 to 80, revealed starkly different views on retirement across the generations. According to the Office for National Statistics, the median age of the UK population in mid- 2021 was 40.7 years, up from 39.6 in mid-2011. Perhaps that...
It’s that time of year again when financial gifts may be given… and HMRC is watching. Tax is never far away from anything you do and making gifts to children at Christmas is no exception. There are a few key tax areas you should bear in mind. Inheritance tax (IHT) As...
The Prime Minister has met his pledge of halving inflation, but we’re not out of the woods yet. In the first week of 2023, the then still new Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, set out “five immediate priorities” for his government. The first of these was: “We will halve...
Forget Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen et al. There is another more significant septet in the United States these days. The original version of ‘The Magnificent Seven’ was released in 1960 and remains to this day an iconic Western film. However, the term ‘Magnificent...
What was almost certainly the last Budget before the election was a serving of the widely expected, sprinkled with a handful of small surprises. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, delivered the Spring Budget 2024 on 6 March. As anticipated, it was a typical...
Recent research on planned retirement ages has produced some unexpected and perhaps unrealistic results. The next increase in State Pension Age (SPA) to 67 will start to take effect in about two years’ time. Under current legislation the move to a SPA of 68 begins in...
This new tax year starting on 6 April brings a range of changes that could affect your financial planning. The start of the new tax year will see many allowances and tax bands frozen once again. In reality these freezes are tax increases as the government has...
New data on marriage and civil partnerships shows a significant threshold has been crossed. ‘Population estimates by marital status and living arrangements, England and Wales: 2022’, sounds like a rather esoteric piece of academic output from the Office for National...
New research has put some surprising numbers on the income needed in retirement. Each year since 2019, the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) has set about answering the question of how much retirement costs for couples and single retirees. It considers...
Individual Savings Accounts will celebrate their 25th birthday on 6 April 2024. A quarter of a century ago, Personal Equity Plans (PEPs) and Tax Exempt Special Savings Accounts (TESSAs), both inventions of Conservative chancellors, were replaced by Individual Savings...
As the FTSE 100 turned 40 on 3 January 2024, we look at how it compared to its predecessor and the lessons learned from four decades of growth versus inflation. The Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) 100 Index, to use the Footsie’s full name, has celebrated its...
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