More baby boomers plan to stay in their own home
A growing number of ageing baby boomers are saying, ‘No, thanks’ to downsizing, choosing instead to remain in the same house in which they raised their family and created lifelong memories.
Reaching the big 50 can be a financial wake-up call.
Your 50s are a crunch time when saving for your retirement. If you’ve already set a retirement savings target but have been neglecting it, the reality is that now you can’t afford to delay your planning any further – and it’s time for a careful review.
Looking at the bigger picture for your wealth and security
Every plan starts with a goal, just like every journey starts with a destination. Planning your financial future is not only important for your security, but it also provides peace of mind. Financial planning should be viewed as a long-term approach to managing your finances.
Savers risk missing out on money from their final pension pot
Millions of savers risk missing out on money from their final pension pot if their provider doesn’t have their correct planned retirement date. The analysis[1] revealed that workplace pension savers in the UK could miss out on thousands of pounds in retirement because they haven’t updated their planned retirement date.
Make the most of your valuable allowances, reliefs and exemptions.
Once we enter January, the end of the 2019/20 tax year will be just over three months away on 5 April. As this date approaches, the window of opportunity reduces if you want to make the most of valuable allowances, reliefs and exemptions that could help reduce your tax bill and make sure your finances stay tax-efficient.
Use your ISA allowance or lose it forever.
Even though the Individual Savings Account (ISA) deadline may be a number of months away, and despite the tax year date remaining the same year in year out, somehow it always creeps up on us. A tax year runs from
6 April one year to 5 April the next.
Government’s bid to ensure ‘pension age equalisation’.
On 3 October, campaigners lost a significant legal battle against the Government’s handling of the rise in women’s State Pension age. Up until 2010, women received their State Pensions at the age of 60, but that has been increasing since then.
Pension and asset advice should be part of the divorce process.
Divorce – it’s one of the most difficult subjects to talk about. The emotional upheaval of divorce can be difficult to deal with, but so too can the financial implications. When relationships come to an end, there are so many things to consider. Children, home and support are naturally the first things you focus on.
How much will you need to save to afford a comfortable retirement?
There is a widespread and common-sense-based perception, backed to some extent by evidence, that planning and preparing for later life is associated with increased well-being in older age. Despite this, it’s concerning that some people at mid-life have not thought much about their later life nor taken fundamental future-oriented actions, such as engaging in financial planning or writing a Will.
Creating and maintaining the right investment strategy plays a vital role in securing your financial future. But we live in the era of the 24-hour news cycle. Human tendency is to prioritise negative over positive news content, and no one is immune from bad news. So as an investor, when you do get it, how do you process the information, deal with it and move on unscathed?
How much should you try to save to have a comfortable retirement?
The good news is that the number of people saving enough for a comfortable retirement has hit its highest ever level, with almost three in five Britons (59%) now saving adequately for the future[1]. This is a significant improvement from the 55% proportion recorded 12 months ago, suggesting this April’s auto-enrolment step-up had an immediate positive impact on saving habits.
Looking after your lifestyle during a time of uncertainty
Nobody wants to worry about how they’ll pay the bills if they become sick or injured and can’t work. But illness or injury can strike at any time and can lead to serious financial trouble. The latest government figures[1] report the dramatic increase in the likelihood of long-term sickness absence when we age, leading to an employment absence of four weeks or more.
Don’t be penalised by the tax system when you exercise your freedoms
The ‘pension freedom’ reforms of 2015 were welcomed by consumers, as they vastly widened options available to most savers at retirement. Pension freedoms allow savers to have the flexibility on how and when to spend their money without being penalised by the tax system, but it is worrying that some individuals plan to withdraw more than the tax-free lump sum limit.
Out of adversity comes opportunity
Under new Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the Government has toughened its stance on a no-deal Brexit, which it has said is ‘now a very real prospect’. 23 June marked three years since the UK voted to leave the European Union.
Signs you are not financially ready to retire
Those potentially most exposed to a pension shortfall are not people just entering the workforce, most of whom presume they will work until their 70s and will receive limited support from the state. Those most at risk of enduring a more frugal older age are those currently in their 40s and 50s who grew up assuming that the pensions system their parents enjoyed – generous income and retirement in their mid-60s – was the norm.
Income gap between the wealthiest and poorest pensioners is growing
The members of Britain’s baby boomer generation who are now entering retirement have been called ‘the richest generation in history’. But the income gap between the wealthiest and poorest pensioners is growing, with those in the top pension income band now having an average weekly income of almost £1,000.
