The simple changes that could save the Lifetime Isa August 31, 2018 It’s never been harder for young people to get on the property ladder, and yet they’re not being given the tools or information they need. The Lifetime Isa was supposed to help, but ended up leaving a lot of people confused. While some are calling for it to be scrapped altogether, I think the Lifetime [...]
Claim-hit Wonga stops taking loan applications as it ‘considers its options’ August 30, 2018 Wonga appeared to be on the verge of folding this morning, as it made the decision to stop taking new loan applications. The payday lender told customers that it “continues to assess its options” in the wake of a huge number of compensation claims that led to shareholders providing an emergency £10m earlier this month. [...]
Three major growth themes August 29, 2018 | City Talk Scientific advances bring both threats and opportunities for investors. Technological progress can render some business models obsolete, but at the same time open up new avenues of growth and wealth creation. Taking a thematic approach is one way to try and profit from a changing world. This involves investing in a collection of companies in [...]
Report highlights huge divide between public sector and private sector pensions August 27, 2018 PUBLIC sector pensions are three times more generous than their private sector counterparts, despite being paid for through general taxation, a new study has revealed. According to the Tax Payers’ Alliance, a 25-year-old employee entering the public sector on the national average wage of £28,600 per annum, would enjoy a far larger a pension pot [...]
Investment Trusts can add a new dimension to a portfolio August 23, 2018 | City Talk Collective investments such as unit trusts and investment trusts let you access investment opportunities and spread risk across dozens of different companies. Investors’ money is pooled together and run by a manager who buys and sells stocks and shares on their behalf to create a diverse portfolio. While unit trusts and OEICs are structured as [...]
Tips for travellers when shopping for a currency card August 23, 2018 Travellers cheques. Remember them? Cue confused expressions from anyone under 25. You may be surprised to hear that some banks still offer these cheques, which can be exchanged when you go abroad for hard currency (though you’re limited to just six of the major currencies). Fortunately, this outdated mode of currency exchange has now been [...]
Proposed new powers for Pensions Regulator would not have stopped Carillion happening, experts say August 22, 2018 A leading pensions consultancy has warned new measures to sharpen the teeth of the sector's regulator may not be enough to prevent another disaster like BHS or Carillion from happening. The government is consulting on proposals that will give The Pensions Regulator (TPR) stronger powers to improve the standards of defined benefit (DB) schemes. This includes giving [...]
Alexa can now let you automatically check the balance of your pension August 21, 2018 Amazon’s Echo Dot gadget can be used for a number of different functions – but now it can even automatically check on the balance of your pension. The smart speaker, which is activated by saying “Alexa” can already switch the lights in your home on and off, read the news and play your music using [...]
Pensioners in the UK shelling out over £24bn in income tax July 9, 2018 The amount pensioners in the UK pay in income tax has ballooned to over £24bn, figures out today have shown. Insurer Royal London obtained the information through freedom of information (FOI) requests to find out how much people over the state pension age were paying to the tax man in different parts of the [...]
Lloyds faces landmark legal action in the High Court over pensions equalisation July 4, 2018 Lloyds Bank could have to fork out up to £508m to equalise its pension scheme if a landmark course case finds it has discriminated against female employees. Three female members of Lloyds' pension scheme claim they have been discriminated against because their pensions increase at a lower rate than their male counterparts. The case, which [...]
