Self-employed people could be missing out on a pension boost of more than £90,000 because they have not benefited from employer contributions. A typical employer may contribute £2,232 a year if a person earns an average salary of £26,664 p.a. over an average working life of 41 years, which amounts to £91,512.  However, self-employed workers [...]

Pensions: Do you know what you are paying for? Recently, some of our customers have discovered that their pensions were not working for them yet they were paying for the privilege of having a badly managed pension fund. Many of the UK’s pension’s funds have severely under performed in recent years, and many look set [...]

MILLIONS are losing out on a £1billion pensions bonanza because they have lost track of their policies. A shocking quarter of those who have paid into a retirement fund have no idea where it is, a study revealed. Up to five million people could have lost their savings – with pensions brokers or big business [...]

MILLIONS of pensioners in the UK could have their retirement hopes ‘highly damaged’ by new European Union (EU) proposals, an expert has warned. Brussels want businesses to invest extra capital to protect themselves from risks, which could push the deficit for UK pensions funds to £450 billion. The move to ‘Solvency II’ rules could put [...]

The proposed single-tier pension could see payments drop by a quarter for millions of low earners. Millions of low earners are likely to see their expected state pension cut by up to a quarter as a result of government plans unveiled earlier this year. According to an in-depth analysis by consultancy Hymans Robertson, the plan [...]

Pension payments that are due today for expats in Cyprus, have been frozen to ensure that money from the UK Government ultimately reaches its intended recipient. The UK Treasury minister Greg Clark has confirmed that payments will resume once the situation becomes clearer, adding that it is possible to change the designated bank account online. [...]

With annuity rates so low at the moment, it comes as a surprise that Standard Life still managed to squeeze an 18.6% profit margin on annuities in 2011, as reported in The Telegraph. With annuities paying pensioners typically around 5% of their pension fund per annum, it is little surprise that the Financial Services Authority [...]

Investing in hotel rooms has been around for the past couple of years, but do people really appreciate all of the benefits of this type of investment? In short my answer would be no.  These investments, if chosen correctly, can offer fantastic returns and security.  Offering returns between 6-15% per annum, Hotel Rooms are rapidly [...]

The OFT is to launch an investigation into whether company pension schemes are able to deliver value to pension savers in the UK. Hidden fund charges has been on the public radar for some time now and so far little has been done by any of the industry bodies or indeed by any of the [...]

According to news reports, Labour Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls is planning on unveiling Labour’s plans for a pension tax raid. Reports in The Telegraph suggest that those earning in excess of £150,000 only stand to receive basic rate tax relief on their retirement savings. Under these proposals, tax relief would only be applied to 20% [...]