Tag Archives: George Osborne

Free to overpay tax?? – what kind of freedom is that?

Question – when is a freedom a pension freedom? Answer- when its got a big tax-bill attached! The pensions minister Ros Altmann has said the government’s proposals to tax pensions in a similar way to individual savings accounts could be … Continue reading

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A new pension deal

A NEW PENSIONS DEAL – NOT A NEW KIND OF ISA There is only one thing that distinguishes a pension plan from an ISA plan and that is liquidity. By “liquidity”, I mean the ease with which the plan holder can … Continue reading

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When the dust settles…

For the second time in two years, George Osborne has produced a budget that will radically change the way we thing about retirement saving. If 2014 was the year we re-thought the way we spent our retirement spending, 2015 asks … Continue reading

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Scrap the LifeTime Allowance – for hard working people!

The Conservatives say they want to reward hard working people. I’d like to thing they include me in that number. They want to appoint Ros Altmann to help us educate ourselves in finances, I’d like to think I’ve been educating … Continue reading

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Probably the worst flagship tax ever?

George Osborne says his proposed tax break for high value homes is about “values”, it is no such thing. This policy is about votes. What is going on with the conservatives on tax? They have become obsessed with the “retail … Continue reading

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LTA exposes the DC horror-show.

Because I am on holiday, I am reading the Sunday Papers. Someone has bought the Sunday Times which I haven’t read for at least 2 billion years. I’m left with the business pages and two articles by Ian Cowie about … Continue reading

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5 good reasons we need a secondary annuity market

I returned from a long walk this morning to a barrage of negativity on twitter. The outrage of the pensions twitterati was reserved for the Government’s pre-budget leak that people will be able to buy and sell annuities as if … Continue reading

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The year pensions became real again

  Pensions – real money Pension money is real money. It belongs to real people and is used to pay real bills, putting fuel into cars, buying flowers in supermarkets and paying for tickets to watch shows and sports matches. … Continue reading

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Clarity needed on NEST’s finances

  The Pension Regulator has announced it intends to introduce a Directory of workplace pensions. The criteria for inclusion will be that the workplace pension must meet the Quality Standards being introduced from 2015 and that the workplace will be universally … Continue reading

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How much flexibility do DC savers want?

  The PPI have taken research conducted by  Opinium on 1000 individuals aged over 40 actively saving into DC and come up with their own analysis. The report suggests that in this group there is a high level of awareness of the … Continue reading

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