magazine archive
magazine archive
Feature
The hottest parts of the UK market so far in 2019
Thursday 04 Apr 2019While the performance of the FTSE 100, FTSE 250 and FTSE All-Share tends to dominate the headlines, it can be useful to take a more nuanced approach and focus on the performance of individual sectors within these headline indices. The tables show the five best and five worst performing sectors in...
What happens to my pension when I die?
Thursday 07 Mar 2019People often talk about leaving their assets for their dependents but the vast majority don’t how their money will be handled on their death or how it will be taxed. Research by AJ Bell last year found that just 7% of people know how their pension will be dealt with on death, with a quarter saying...
Pension tax-free cash: What are the rules and does it always pay to take it?
Thursday 07 Mar 2019Of all the benefits of saving in a pension, perhaps the best understood is the ability to take a quarter of your fund tax-free from age 55. As a result, getting at this money is a priority for millions of people approaching retirement. In fact, research carried out by the Financial Conduct...
Guaranteed incomes: defined benefit pensions, annuities and the price of freedom and choice
Thursday 07 Mar 2019If you were offered £1m today or £1,000 a week for the rest of your life, which would you choose? This was the very real – and admittedly enviable – dilemma facing 18-year-old Canadian Charlie Lagarde when she won the lottery in March 2018. In the end, she sensibly went for the weekly income option...
A simple guide to pension tax rules
Thursday 28 Feb 2019There is a myth that pensions always have to be complicated. In fact, 17% of AJ Bell Youinvest customers said understanding tax was the most complicated thing about retirement investing, while almost one in six said simplification of pension rules would encourage them to save more. For the vast...
How much do you need to save for a good retirement?
Thursday 28 Feb 2019People work all their lives to be able to retire comfortably, so when you come to hand in your work pass and say goodbye to your desk you want to make sure you’ve saved enough to enjoy retirement. Some people worry that they have left their pension saving too late, and so bury their heads in the...
How do SIPPs work and are they right for me?
Thursday 28 Feb 2019A self-invested personal pension (SIPP) is an effective low-cost way for DIY investors to save for retirement – but they are not the right choice for everyone. SIPPs became more popular in 2015 when new rules made pensions more flexible to manage. At this point, savers were no longer to obliged to...
Which companies are potential takeover targets in the healthcare sector?
Thursday 07 Feb 2019Corporate activity in the healthcare sector is heating up. GlaxoSmithKline ( GSK ) and US rival Pfizer plan to marry their consumer health businesses in a £10bn joint venture. Bristol-Myers Squibb has made a $74bn takeover offer for Celgene and Eli Lily is to pay $8bn for Loxo Oncology. Analysts...
Can the sun rise on Japanese stocks?
Thursday 24 Jan 2019A poor end to the year saw Japanese funds rank among the worst performers of 2018 – but could this year see a turnaround? Japan’s TOPIX index hit levels not seen since the early 90s in the first part of 2018, while the Nikkei index broke the 24,000 barrier for the first time in years. Yet by the...
What are convertible bonds and why could they shine in 2019?
Thursday 17 Jan 2019When convertible bonds are mentioned, the reaction of most people is to yawn. They have a reputation of being a bit geeky and in the realm of mathematicians. But in a time when interest rates are starting to creep up – albeit slowly – and equities are climbing a ‘wall of worry’, the chameleon...