pensions

A guide to investing for your children

Rebecca Atkinson — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:02:36 +0100

While your baby is small, a child trust fund brings nothing but joy. You have free money, a readymade receptacle for grandparental Christmas presents, and you can make regular contributions too.

When did you start saving in a pension?

Rebecca Atkinson — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:16:00 +0100

* I haven't started yet * When I was in my late teens/early 20s * When I was in my late 20s * When I was in my 30s * When I was older than 40

Reduce your tax bill with salary sacrifice

Chris Thomas — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 09:49:17 +0100

In financially fraught times, asking your employer to pay you less might seem like shooting yourself in the foot. However, so-called ‘salary sacrifice’ schemes can actually be an effective way of giving your finances a boost and feathering your nest.

Cost of retirement hits £413,000

Rebecca Atkinson — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:01:22 +0100

A couple who plan to give up work at 65 would need to have saved £413,000 in order to fund their retirement, new figures reveal.

FTSE fall sparks pension scheme concern

Rebecca Atkinson — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 12:54:39 +0100

Share prices across the global market suffered a day of huge losses yesterday, with £30 billion wiped off the value of FTSE 100 companies.

The FTSE index of Britain’s 100 largest companies closed 146 points down on Tuesday evening, to 5.479 points.

Should I transfer my protected rights into a SIPP?

Rebecca Atkinson — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:28:39 +0100

The government has confirmed changes to pension rules that will allow investors to transfer protected rights into Self Invested Personal Pensions (SIPPs) from October.

Is this the next pension mis-selling scandal?

Rebecca Atkinson — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 11:05:08 +0100

Annuities could be the next pension mis-selling scandal because insurance companies are pushing their deals onto people without fully highlighting their right to shop around, experts have warned.

Get set and go for retirement

Chris Thomas — Wed, 07 May 2008 11:27:10 +0100

Kelvin Martin, a 58-year-old retired stockbroker from Dagenham, wasn’t going to bother shopping around for an annuity. "It was only a small pension, so if it had been up to me I probably would have just taken the income the pension company offered me," he explains.

His wife, however, had other ideas. "She has the shopping gene, so she suggested we just take a look. She found a broker on the internet, and when we called we discovered they could get us 15-20% more income. I was really shocked."

Millions of women missing out on pension income

Rebecca Atkinson — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 16:50:00 +0100

Nearly two million women could be losing out on potential pension income because of confusion over eligibility, according to research from HSBC.

Although the research shows a marked increase in the number of women taking control of their pensions over the past three years, the level of understanding of retirement planning has not improved at all.

Just over half of women surveyed aged between 18 and 60 now contribute to a pension – but of those not currently planning for retirement, nearly a third believed they were too young to do so while 22% didn’t think they could afford to prioritise pension provision.

Don't lose out on your state pension

Chris Thomas — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 14:43:20 +0000

It’s no secret that women get a pretty raw deal when it comes to the state pension. We need to make 39 qualifying years of national insurance contributions to be eligible for the full state pension - currently £87.30 a week - and 10 years of contributions to be eligible for just 25%. When you consider that women are more likely to take time out of work to bring up children and care for relatives, it's not surprising that just 30% of women qualify for the full basic state pension, compared with 85% of men.