Popular News
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Specialist expat SIPP adviser declared in default
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme has declared financial adviser AXG Advice Ltd (FRN: 450813) as failed.
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Trust in pensions sector drops for first time in 5 years
Public trust in the pensions industry has dropped for the first time in five years, according to an annual survey.
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Hundreds face huge tax bill after cashing in pension
Almost 300 people fully encashed a pension of more than £250,000 after tax-free cash between October 2023 and March 2024, paying a minimum £98,700 each in tax in the process, according to new analysis of FCA figures by Standard Life.
Latest Blog
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James Jones-Tinsley: Aiming for an advice-guidance sweetspot
As Nikhil Rathi is reappointed as CEO of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for another five years, the FCA has set out its strategic direction for 2025/26, with important implications for financial advisers.
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Lisa Webster: Over-taxation of pensions remains an issue
HMRC’s January pension schemes newsletter announced changes to tax codes for pensions, and a few headlines followed proclaiming HMRC had finally fixed the over-taxation issue. It would be fantastic if that was the case, but despite nearly 10 years of getting it wrong, the problem isn’t resolved yet.
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Lisa Webster: Divorce impact on lump sums raises question
The lifetime allowance may have been consigned to the annals of history but the various forms of protection are still relevant in the new world, especially when it comes to the amount of pension commencement lump sum (PCLS) that can be taken.
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Martin Tilley: How education can tackle pension scams
The dark reality of pension scams is that we don’t really know how common they are. Fraud is a crime which tends to have low reporting events and with pension scams, it’s no different. The emotional toll can be as large as the financial, with some people being too embarrassed to report that they have been the victim of a scam.
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Lisa Webster: Maximising protected tax-free cash
While 2024 ended with a lot of doom and gloom in the pension world following the big announcement on inheritance tax (IHT), there was some good news that may have slipped under the radar of some advisers.
A complaint about a pension firm's failings, which began when a transfer to a Sipp was made, has been upheld by the Pensions Ombudsman.
Change is afoot in AXA Wealth's Sipp department with its section head leaving the firm and a new product launching.
A tax problem means Standard Life Sipp investors in the suspended ARM life settlement fund face an even greater wait for their Catalyst compensation to be handed over.
Two Sipps firms have strongly backed the move to consign the 'death tax' on pensions to the rubbish bin today, with one director saying it reaffirms the rebirth of the system.
A Financial Planning firm has hit out at the costs facing advisers to fund the new retirement service pledged by the Government in the Budget, labelling it the 'guidance tax'.
Ignorance among hundreds of thousands of small businesses about auto-enrolment dates is high, research has found, sparking a warning that companies face hefty fines if they fail to get clued up soon.