Tag Archives: George Osborne

No one should ever have to buy a poor annuity again.

I’ve just read an article that could best be described as smug. It’s written by a lawyer in the financial regulation team of Foot Anstey – Alan Hughes. I don’t know Alan but I know his firm and have a … Continue reading

Posted in advice gap, age wage, annuity, pensions | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Where does all our money go?

Two of the big three revenue sources are income tax and national insurance, they’re the ones who hurt the well off. The third biggie -VAT is the one that hurts the poorest. Poor people pay VAT at the same rate as … Continue reading

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The circular firing squad

As civil servants in the DWP enter their building in Westminster this morning , they’ll be walking into an atmosphere that makes the Thick of It look like Play School. A new Secretary of State, Stephen Crabb is in place. … Continue reading

Posted in pensions, Pensions Regulator, Politics, Ros Altmann, steve webb | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Cheltenham 2016 – can it get any better?

  Well I suppose the sun could have shined and it could have been about 15 degrees warmer (like last year) but I’ve never had as good a day’s racing as Day 1 of the 2016 Cheltenham festival! Smug? You … Continue reading

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“The re-nationalisation of pensions”

Who pays? – Scheme Pays! Buried deep in the technical pages of HMRC’s pension regulations is reference to a breezy topic “Scheme Pays“. “Scheme Pays” allows an occupational pension scheme to pay a member’s tax bill where the member has … Continue reading

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Spin, spin and more spin – the Osborne tumble-dryer.

George Osborne’s oral statement that he was introducing a cap on exit penalties imposed on people trying to exercise their pension freedoms is turning out to be a joke, a tumble dryer of spin with nothing but old-rags to be … Continue reading

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How the autumn statement will effect pensions and pensioners

There were no big pension surprises in this autumn statement but the Chancellor managed to squeeze some savings from auto-enrolled workers and pensioners. All eyes now turn to the 2016 Budget where the Chancellor is expected to make an announcement … Continue reading

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What the great fall of China does to my pension.

The falls in the world stock markets since April appear huge, our own market has fallen 15% , market in Asia, much more. But the equity market that has fallen the most is China. The great fall of China is … Continue reading

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Why I want to be old – rich and pay no tax!

There’s a famous story, now fading from popular memory about Strand, a brand of cigarettes in the sixties. Strand came out with a strap-line “you’re never alone with a Strand” It killed the brand stone-dead. People associated smoking a Strand … Continue reading

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The FinTech boom ignites with the start-ups!

This chart says something pretty interesting. It tells us that London is the top place in Europe for Financial Technology, it tells us that in terms of performance and market reach, we’re doing great but that we lag in Funding … Continue reading

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