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If you are lucky enough to have a pension pot or a pension plan that works out your savings as being worth more than £1.5 million, then when you take your benefits, it is likely that you will have to pay a lifetime allowance tax charge on the excess. The existing fixed Lifetime Allowance (LTA)

Virtually all the headlines surrounding George Osborne’s recent Budget were about the changes to the pensions rules. Rightly described as the biggest changes to pensions legislation for a hundred years, they will have far-reaching implications for the financial planning of many of our clients. With all the attention devoted to pensions, it was easy to

Should I buy a buy to let (BTL) as an investment or not?  I am sure that many clients are wondering whether they should invest their hard earned savings into a buy to let property or not.  Is the market at a peak?  Where should I invest? What will my returns be? Property can surely

We started last month’s bulletin in the Crimea, with Russian troops in de facto control of the peninsula. Well, the Crimea is now part of Russia again and the collected denunciations and threatened sanctions of William Hague, John Kerry and the European foreign ministers will do nothing to change that. The question now is what

Introduction A year on from the Budget 2013 and the outlook for UK plc looks considerably brighter. Growth has returned since last year and the forecasts for 2014 and 2015 are being continually revised upwards. In George Osborne’s 2013 Autumn Statement, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) predicted growth of 2.4% for this year: at

The latest Legal & General ‘Mortgage Mood’ survey reveals that two thirds of consumers (65%) are not financially preparing for an interest rate rise in the next two years. At the same time, only 7% of those polled are considering re-mortgaging their home in the next 12 months. The Mortgage Mood survey is a quarterly

In one of the most significant changes announced during George Osborne’s 2014 Budget, the rules governing ISAs will dramatically change in July of this year. Below, we break down exactly how the new rules will impact savers and allow you to shelter more from the taxman. New ISAs New ISAs, or NISAs, will be introduced

A recent Saga report evidences how British baby-boomers are helping to keep the economy afloat. This iconic generation, the post-war babies that grew up to revolutionise popular culture, makes up just over a third of the UK’s population, but punches above its weight when it comes to spending its wealth. The report, undertaken by the

The Chancellor may have gone for the popular phrase from Chancellors of yore by taking ‘a penny off a pint’, but what were the real big announcements during The Budget 2014? We summarise the 8 main points: 1. Changes to pensions mean many more options than just buying an annuity In measures to be introduced