magazine archive
magazine archive
Money Matters
Why you should ignore the Lifetime ISA cynics
Thursday 02 Aug 2018Last week the Treasury Committee, a group of MPs tasked with holding the Exchequer to account, published a wide-ranging report on household finances. The report’s recommendations have been widely picked up in the press, with the Lifetime ISA (LISA) – a product created in 2016 to help young people...
Investing for growth in retirement
Thursday 02 Aug 2018Major changes to pension rules have given people in retirement more freedom than ever in how they use their money in retirement – and some retirees may even consider trying to grow their savings pot. Pension freedoms, introduced more than three years ago, mean today’s retirees are not forced to buy...
Lessons from the FCA’s platforms market study
Thursday 26 Jul 2018The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the regulator of the financial services industry, has been busy recently kicking the tyres of the pensions and investment markets to ensure they are delivering value for money for investors. First, its asset management market study assessed the value for money...
How you can use gifting rules to give your child or grandchild a £1m pension
Thursday 26 Jul 2018Parents or grandparents can save on their inheritance tax bill and put away more than £1m in their children’s or grandchildren’s pensions by making use of lucrative gifting allowances. When people die their estate will have to pay 40% inheritance tax on anything above £325,000. In addition to this...
New inheritance tax break could save you £140,000 – but how does it work?
Thursday 19 Jul 2018A new Government tax break launched last year will ultimately mean that each couple can leave a £1m property in their estate entirely inheritance tax free. However, the rules around how the new tax-free allowance works are tricky, and homeowners could be caught out. We explain how the tax break...
Should you stick with your auto-enrolment default fund?
Thursday 19 Jul 2018Keeping track of your financial affairs is no easy task. Many savers will have their money scattered about in various different products, from ISAs to SIPPs and perhaps a Lifetime ISA or Help to Buy ISA too. Those looking to the future could even have a Junior ISA or SIPP set up for their children...
Understanding Vanguard LifeStrategy funds and how they work
Thursday 12 Jul 2018Many people will have heard of (and be invested in) Vanguard’s LifeStrategy range of funds. The funds are intended to be a one-stop-shop for investors, giving access to different asset classes at a cheap price. They have proved popular with investors, with the amount invested in them doubling to £...
The retirement investing mistakes that could cost you dear
Thursday 12 Jul 2018Savers now have almost limitless options when it comes to spending and investing their retirement pot. Flexible rules mean from age 55 you can keep your fund invested, take a regular income, access ad hoc lump sums or secure a guaranteed income by purchasing an annuity from an insurance company...
What does the FCA’s pension freedoms intervention mean for retirement income investors?
Thursday 05 Jul 2018Former Chancellor George Osborne’s pension freedoms announcement in March 2014 caught everyone on the hop – including the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Just over three years after reforms which granted defined contribution (DC) savers total flexibility over how they spend and invest their hard...
The 6 questions you should ask before selling a fund
Thursday 05 Jul 2018‘Style creep’ is a well-known term in the fund management industry, which is when a fund manager starts to deviate from their investment style. There might be a number of reasons for this action, from the current investment market going against their style, a rise in fund assets, or pressure from...