March 25, 2014
The Chancellor’s budget last week has been hailed in the media as the budget that will “reform the pensions industry”, that will “rebrand pensions for the better,” and that was “a big step forward.”
Indeed, it was a budget in which there were plenty of headline-grabbing ‘policies’. These included all restrictions on access to pension pots being removed from April next year; in which it was pledged that it would no longer be compulsory to buy an annuity;
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March 24, 2014
George Osborne has announced in his budget statement the scrapping of pensions access restrictions. It’s a move that will, I believe, lead to a deepening of the UK crisis in the long-term.
As was reported in The Independent, to my mind this is an extremely “dangerous and short-sighted” approach for the government to adopt, bearing in mind the ageing population and the inevitable burden on the State that this presents. Should retirees spend a large proportion of their
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March 18, 2014
People are happy to pay more tax as it makes them feel more successful, apparently. People are comfortable with nearly half of every penny they earn above £41,450 going to the taxman, apparently.
Of course, this is nonsense, as no sensible individual likes handing over more of their hard-earned money to the Treasury than they are required to do. People are happy to pay more tax as it makes them feel more successful, apparently. People are comfortable with nearly half of every
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March 15, 2014
I believe in commitment
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80% is never enough and I don't think giving something 99% is either. For me its the people that give total commitment that win the day. 80% is never enough and I don't think giving something 99% is either. For me its the people that give total commitment that win the day.
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March 14, 2014
As a growing number of American expats become increasingly aware of the legitimate methods by which they can mitigate the financial fallout of FATCA, I fully expect that fewer and fewer will be taking the distressing and drastic decision to give-up their U.S. passports.
As Gulf News reported this week, deVere is now enabling U.S. expats who could be adversely affected by the highly controversial and soon-to-be-implemented Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act –
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March 13, 2014
Further pension raids proposed
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There’s a little over a year to go until the UK general election and all the political parties are beginning to articulate their pensions policy.
And with the over 65s the fastest growing sector of the population, it is perhaps hardly surprising that pensions - along with several other issues such as the economy and immigration - are receiving considerable amounts of ‘air time’ in the Westminster corridors of power, are generating so many headlines, and are set to partly dominate the political landscape until the country goes to the ballot. There’s
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March 11, 2014
Protestors against the Bank of England’s record low interest rates took to London’s Threadneedle Street at the end of last week, staging a mock funeral to draw attention to the ‘death of the UK saver’.
Members of Save Our Savers, a campaign set up to encourage government policy to focus around the social and economic importance of saving, held the protest outside the Bank of England, as talks take place to decide whether to increase the interest rate
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March 6, 2014
With just over a fortnight to go until the Budget, the Prime Minister is making a promise to put more money in people’s pockets if the Conservatives are elected.
The importance of financial stability and renewed confidence in the economy was top of the agenda, during yesterday’s speech in the West Midlands in which David Cameron vowed to slash taxes by moderating public spending during his next term. However, disappointingly, he didn’t talk about plans to increase the
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March 3, 2014
The minimum wage debate continues to rumble on in the U.S. And it looks set to intensify this week as President Obama is set to make an appearance at Central Connecticut State University with a host of state governors who support his campaign to push to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. The minimum wage debate continues to rumble on in the U.S. And it looks set to intensify this week as President Obama is set to make an appearance at Central Connecticut State
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