A new report by the Labour Party on pensions has been criticised by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) as badly timed and misleading. The report, by shadow work and pensions secretary Liam Byrne, supports earlier comments by Ed Miliband that pension fees and charges could erode half of a retiree’s pension fund. The Labour […]
The charges levied by some fund managers could be eroding defined contribution pension schemes by up to 17 per cent, according to a report by the National Audit Office (NAO). The watchdog is calling for fund managers to be more accountable for how they manage the schemes, following a study into the regulation of defined […]
Saga, which provides finance products exclusively for the over 50s, claims that more than a quarter of people in this age group will work past the current state pension age of 65. Based on 427,000 retirement dates given by people using its annuity service, 27 per cent of over 50s will work beyond the age […]
The number of people continuing to work after reaching retirement age has increased by 85 percent, from 753,000 in 1993 to 1.4 million in 2011, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The ONS said this was due to a number of factors, including improved health and wellbeing for older people, with many of […]
The gap between the value of pensions received by men and women has narrowed, according to a survey by the Prudential. While this looks like good news on the surface, women are only catching up with men because the average male annual pension has fallen in value, rather than because women’s retirement income has increased. […]
After months of talks, employers and trade unions have agreed to introduce career-average pension schemes for all 1.6 million local authority employees. The proposed new scheme, known as LGPS 2014, would start in 2014 as the name suggests. It would require higher paid staff to contribute significantly more to their pension than they do at […]
The proportion of people with no pension savings has grown from 20 per cent to 22 per cent over the past year, according to Scottish Widows’ latest survey. The pension provider surveyed 5,200 adults in the UK, aged 30 or over, and earning at least £10,000 a year, for its annual review of pensions. Ian […]
The Queen’s Speech has outlined plans to introduce a flat-rate state pension in England, Scotland and Wales and to automatically increase the pension age in line with longevity. A new flat-rate of £140 will replace the current full state pension, which stands at £107.45 a week, but can increase to £137.35 with pension credit. The […]
New reports suggest that the deficit of private-sector, final-salary, pension schemes has increased again, with industry experts suggesting that this type of pension may have disappeared by 2020. The latest figures from the Pension Protection Fund (PPF), which provides compensation to members of eligible defined benefit pension schemes if an employer becomes insolvent, show that […]
People over the age of 50 will need to work for a further 11 years after they reach state pension age according to a new report. The Pensions Policy Institute claims that those who are unable to carry on working will struggle to maintain their standard of living. The report suggests that a single person […]
A further strike against the government’s proposals to reform public sector pensions is expected next month. The dispute has continued for a year now, with a million public sector workers from a number of unions taking part in a general strike in November. Members of The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) and health union […]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is calling for pension and insurance providers to reduce the estimates of returns used when marketing their products. The regulator warns that firms are using over-generous forecasts which could be misleading for consumers. It wants them to reduce the estimates of returns on investment products by at least 0.5 percent, […]
As part of its plans to simplify the tax system the Government may start taxing State Pensions before they are paid out. Pensioners whose taxable income, including their State Pension, exceeds their tax-free personal allowance, still have to pay income tax, although it is estimated that only 40 per cent of pensioners realise that their […]
New research by Prudential shows that one in six people retiring this year will rely solely on their state pension because they have no workplace pension to supplement their income. The Prudential’s ‘Class of 2012’ survey into the retirement plans of nearly 10,000 people highlighted that women are more than twice as likely as men […]
The government revealed today that automatic enrolment rates for the tax year to April 2013 will be aligned with tax and National Insurance thresholds to make implementation simple for firms. Auto-enrolment is being phased in from 1 October, starting with the largest firms, and should be in full effect by the middle of 2017. It […]
Changes announced in today’s budget mean that four million pensioners will be worse off. The budget included controversial proposals to lower the income tax allowance for people over 65 to £9,205 from April. This will bring pensioners in line with the general population. The over 65s currently benefit from a more generous tax-free allowance of […]
Supermarket retailer Tesco has increased its pension age by two years to 67 for the 170,000 employees who contribute to the company’s scheme. Tesco employees will still be able to retire from the age of 55 at a reduced pension rate, but they will only receive a full pension if they work until 67. The […]
Talks over public sector pensions have now ended with the government producing a final set of proposals. While the Treasury said the talks were constructive, unions claim that ‘serious matters’ have been left unresolved, leading to the threat of further industrial action. The proposed changes to health, education and civil service pensions are designed to […]
The value of final salary pension schemes has been slashed by £90 billion due to the government’s latest round of quantitative easing (QE), the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) warns, while pensioners’ incomes have also been hit by soaring living costs. A new study by LV= suggest that pensioners’ day-to-day living costs have increased […]
Falling gilt yields have pushed final salary pension funds £90bn deeper into the red since the second wave of quantitative easing (QE) started last October, pension experts said today. The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) said the Bank of England’s printing of £125bn within the past six months had hit pension funds harder than […]
Gender directive could slash men’s annuity payouts
The EU Gender Directive, which came into force today, could see men losing up to £10,000 from their annuity payouts, according to research by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Under the new rules insurers are no longer allowed to take gender into account when setting annuity rates and premiums on insurance products. Men previously enjoyed higher annuity rates than […]
Home rental costs down in November
The cost of renting a house in England and Wales fell by 0.4 per cent in November, its first dip since March, according to a survey by LSL Property Services. Average rent was £741m during the month, returning to the level seen in September. However, it was 3.4 per higher than in November last year. […]
Lloyds TSB halts sale of packaged accounts in branches
Lloyds TSB will stop selling packaged account in its branches from 1 January 2013, until its sales procedures are brought into line with those operated by sister bank The Halifax. Lloyds TSB is one of the main providers of packaged accounts in Britain, with around one in three of its customers choosing to pay fees […]
Housing market recovery to continue next year
Recent improvements in the housing market should continue into next year, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) Gross lending is estimated to have increased to £12.9 billion in November, helped by the Funding for Lending scheme which provides banks and building societies with lower-cost funding, which they are then supposed to pass on […]
Newcastle Building Society exits interest-only mortgages
Newcastle Building Society has stopped offering interest-only mortgages to new borrowers, following the lead of the Royal Bank of Scotland, Nationwide, Co-operative bank and Coventry Building Society. The decision will not affect existing Newcastle customers and applications for interest-only mortgages received before 14 December will still be processed. Prior to the credit crunch, interest-only mortgages […]
Less than half of Brits considered creditworthy
Fifty-seven per cent of UK adults are at risk of having an application for credit turned down by a mainstream lender according to a new report. The ‘Mind the Credit Gap‘ report commissioned by aqua credit cards suggests that even people with a good credit rating and earning more than £50,000 could have a credit […]
Monthly incomes £22 lower in 2012
The average monthly income of UK households fell by £22 in real terms compared with last year, according to a survey carried out for the Bank of England (BoE) by NMG Consulting. People on lower incomes have seen their income eroded more than higher earners and households still have high levels of debt the BoE […]
Savers dig deep to fund Christmas
New research from the Halifax suggests that savers are funding their Christmas spending with money set aside for other purposes. Thirty-seven per cent of 2,138 savers surveyed by the bank at the end of November had withdrawn savings in the last three months. The average amount withdrawn was £1,186, more than double the average savings […]
Financial data at risk from unsafe passwords
According to a survey by the Payments Council the problem of having to remember a different password for several accounts means that many internet users are compromising the security of their financial data. Internet users have 22 password-protected accounts on average and many use the same log-in details for more than one account, even though […]
Wonga launches Paylater loans on retailer website
Payday loan company Wonga has launched a new Paylater service on furniture firm Cotswold Company’s website. The service, which allows customers to “buy now, pay later” will be introduced on other retailers’ sites in the near future. Although the Paylater branding is similar to Wonga’s, the Wonga name only appears in the small print. A […]
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