Latest Blogs
-
James Jones-Tinsley: Guided Retirement Duty could be game changer
During May, the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI), sponsored by The Pensions Regulator (TPR), concluded that defined contribution (DC) pension savers – including those in SIPPs, as well as in Workplace Pensions - require more guidance when choosing suitable retirement products.
-
Lisa Webster: Overcomplicated rules are a threat
It may be more than a year since the Lifetime Allowance was formally abolished but issues are still emerging from the mess made by rushed legislation.
-
Lisa Webster: To gift or not to gift?
Since the announcement that pensions are to be included in estates for inheritance tax (IHT) purposes the question of whether those with large pension pots should be giving some funds away has become increasingly common.
Popular News
-
Barnett Waddingham appoints new CEO of BW SIPP
Pensions and SIPP consultancy Barnett Waddingham has promoted Nick Cooper to be CEO of BW SIPP, as the business says it enters a new phase focused on market growth.
-
SIPP administrator Nucleus poaches new CFO from FNZ
Platform group and SIPP and SSAS administrator Nucleus Financial Platforms has appointed FNZ chief financial & commercial officer Andrew Ring as chief financial officer, subject to regulatory approval.
-
Petition demands 10-day pension switch guarantee
Retirement specialist PensionBee has launched a petition demanding the government take action on pension delays as frustration mounts over the slow pace of pension transfer switches.
-
State pension gender gap ‘almost eliminated’
The gender pension gap has been almost completely eliminated when it comes to the state pensions of people retiring today, according to new data.
-
Pension transfer times fell after tax year end
Simpler pension transfers took an average of just 10.8 days to complete as the industry moved out of the busy tax year end period and into early summer.
Two of the world’s biggest financial businesses are to combine with Aon buying rival Willis Towers Watson for £23bn.
Defined benefit pension transfer values rose in February with Coronavirus fears spurring the rise, according to the XPS Transfer Watch Index, a monthly study of transfer values.
Pension savers are more likely to have a pension than 10 years ago but more are expecting to retire later than their parents’ generation.
The director of a company acting as a trustee for 16 pension schemes has received a £10,000 court fine for failing to hand information to The Pensions Regulator.
A record 77% of UK employees were in a workplace pension in 2019, according to latest ONS figures released today.
This compares to only 47% in 2012 when auto-enrolment began and is the highest membership rate for workplace pensions since 1997.
ONS says participation in occupational defined contribution (DC) pensions has grown in recent years to the extent that more employees have a DC pension than other type.
The youngest employees, those aged 22 to 29 years, have seen the most growth in workplace pension membership since 2012, rising from 31% of younger workers enrolled to 80% in 2019.
ONS says that in 2019, the gender gap in public sector pension membership disappeared. In the private sector a gap still persists with more men (77%) having a workplace pension than women (69%).
In 2019, some 78% of employees with DC pensions contributed at least 3% of earnings, up from 37% in 2018. ONS says this is likely mainly due to minimum auto-enrolment contributions rising.
Eleanor Levy, director of Marketing and Communications at NOW: Pensions, said: “It’s fantastic to see that 77% of UK employees are members of a workplace pension scheme, and auto enrolment is at its highest membership rate ever. However, more still needs to be done to ensure that everyone has the ability to save for a successful retirement.
“While DWP’s pledge to lower the auto enrolment age to 18 is a great start, we must ensure that we maintain this momentum and scrap the £10,000 auto enrolment eligibility criteria which is penalising those who simply don’t earn enough. This criteria disproportionately affects women who work part-time while they care for the younger and older generations.
“We are very supportive of Baroness Jeannie Drake’s family carer top-up, which will help approximately three million women, in addition to 300,000 men, to top up their pension savings whilst taking time out of work to be carers.”
Selftrade, one of the oldest retail investment platforms, has re-branded as EQi and announced plans to boost its SIPP services