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 [...]
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 [...]
Work and pensions secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, is expected to announce today that the state pension age will rise to 66 for men - as early as 2016. Furthermore, the Government is to raise the option of extending it further, perhaps to 70 and beyond in the following decades. The former Labour Government’s policy was [...]
The majority of Britain’s workforce will not be able to retire before 70, a pensions expert has predicted. Robin Ellison, partner at Pinsent Masons, said the government will be forced to increase the retirement age at a faster pace than most people expect due to a growing population of older people. “This is just the [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed that the number of pensioners living in poverty has shrank by almost a third to two million in 2007/08 from 2.9 million in 1998/99. Poverty is officially defined as living on 60% of the average income - once housing costs have been paid. The ONS also [...]
At today’s Pre-Budget Report, Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling unveiled measures to claw back money in order to pay off the UK’s spiralling debt. Mr Darling confirmed there would be a one-off 50% tax on bankers’ bonuses paid above £25,000. The Chancellor said the banks, rather than the bankers, will pay the tax and [...]
The basic state pension is to increase from April 2010 by 2.5%, which equates to a rise of £2.40 per week, or 34p per day. For a single pensioner, the weekly pension will rise from £95.25 to £97.65, while a pensioner couple will see a rise to £156.16 from the current £152.30. State and public [...]
According to the Pensions Advisory Service, only a third of women currently receive the full state pension. Many women miss out on a full state pension if they stop working or opt to work part-time to bring up their children. As a result, they are missing out on National Insurance contributions due to leaving the [...]
Pensioners are missing out on up to £5.4 billion per year in benefits they are entitled to, Age Concern said this week. The over-50s charity said thousands of pensioners are refusing to claim benefits because they are too proud to do so. Many pensioners would feel like they were taking handouts if they accepted benefits [...]
Pensioners have seen their monthly income slashed by almost a quarter in the last year, research by SHIP has discovered. SHIP (Safe Home Income Plans) revealed that the 8 million British pensioners are suffering from the drop in income, caused by the collapse in the Bank of England’s base rate. Income from savings has plummeted [...]
State pensions in the UK are half of what they need to be for a comfortable retirement, research by Friends Provident has discovered. A poll conducted by the pensions provider found that on average Brits estimate needing £832 per month to live comfortably in retirement, £439 more than the standard state pension. Seventy-five percent of [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has established that the average man is working for longer before retiring. Official figures show that in 1984, the average male retired aged 63.7 years. However this has increased from 64.6 years between April and June this year and is now up to 65. Meanwhile, the average retirement age [...]
As a result of growing life expectancy, a pensions guru is predicting that millions of men and women will have to stay in employment until they are 70. Lord Turner, who 2 years ago said the retirement age would rise to 68 by 2046, believes the state pension age will have to increase further. On [...]
Mortgage fraud increases by 23 per cent
Information services company Experian has reported a 23 per cent increase in the number of people giving false information in order to obtain a mortgage. In the second quarter of this year, 39 out of every 10,000 mortgage applications were found to be fraudulent, compared with 32 in the 2011 second quarter. Lenders have tightened [...]
Government to crack down on hidden credit card charges
Tougher rules are to be brought in to protect consumers from hidden credit card charges and premium-rate phone calls to customer service departments. The Government has launched a consultation on how to implement the changes, which are required under a European Consumer Rights Directive and will apply to countries across the European Union. The new [...]
Which? report claims free banking is a myth
A new report by consumer group Which? highlights the high charges that can be applied to ‘free’ current accounts. While these accounts are free while in credit, charges can be applied if a customer goes overdrawn, especially if they do so without permission. Customers can also be charged for overseas transactions and for agreed overdrafts. [...]
Households more optimistic about their finances
Household finances are still deteriorating, but at a slower rate, according to the Markit household finance index. The index increased from 37.5 in July to 38.9 in August, with figures above 50 representing a positive change in household finances, and figures below 50 representing a negative change. The August figure represents the third consecutive monthly [...]
Think tank calls for council housing sell off
The Policy Exchange, a leading UK think tank, is calling for expensive social housing to be sold as it becomes vacant. This could raise £4.5 billion a year and the money could be used to create the largest social house building programme since the 1970s, the think tank suggests in a new report. Between 80,000 [...]
Barclays appoints new chairman
Barclays has announced the appointment of Sir David Walker as its new chairman. He will take over from Marcus Agius who resigned from the role after Barclays was fined £290 million by regulators in the UK and US for manipulating Libor, the interbank lending rate. The appointment of Sir David, a respected and experienced banker, [...]
Post Office stepping up mortgage offering
The Post Office is expanding its mortgage service with the introduction of mortgage specialists in its branches. Mortgages have been available from the Post Office since 2009, but applications have had to be made online or over the phone. It currently offers mortgage with deposits as low as 10 per cent and plans to enhance [...]
Help Loan closed after breaching money-laundering rules
Payday Loan company MCO Capital has been closed down by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and fined £544,000 after failing to check the identity of its borrowers. The firm, which traded as Help Loan, was targeted by criminals and cheated of more than £1.5m by the fraudsters due to its negligence. The criminals stole [...]
Health insurance becoming unaffordable warns Bupa
The rising cost of private healthcare is pushing health insurance in the UK up to unaffordable levels, according to international healthcare group Bupa. A lack of competition among private hospitals has led to the cost of treatment rising, and the insurer says that this could lead to health insurance becoming unaffordable. An increase in the [...]
Bank of England forecasts zero economic growth
The Bank of England does not expect the UK economy to grow at all this year according to its latest quarterly report. It had previously forecast growth of 2 per cent for 2012 but recent gloomy economic data has led to the growth forecast being revised downwards. The forecast for medium-term growth has also been [...]
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