Latest Blogs
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Tilley: Pensions Commission must push reform...and quickly
Recent news of the revival of a Pensions Commission was music to my ears.
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Lisa Webster: Till pensions do us part
There have been some fluctuations in recent years but overall divorce rates in the UK have been in decline since the 1990s.
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Tilley: Let’s end the SIPP vs SSAS debate for good
As you might know from my previous columns on SIPPs Professional, I am, and have been for some time, a huge advocate for Small Self-Administered Schemes (SSAS).
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Lisa Webster: Pre-Budget withdrawals are spiking again
Ever since “tax-free cash” changed its official name to “pension commencement lump sum” back in 2006 there have been pre-Budget rumours that it was going to change – and not for the better.
Popular News
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24 claims against 'missing payments' failed adviser firm
The FSCS has declared a Scottish adviser firm in default after it appeared that insurance premiums, and potentially investment contributions, were not being passed on to providers.
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Capita hit with £14m fine after 6.6m pension records hacked
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the data regulator, has fined outsourcing business Capita £14m for failing to protect the security of 6.6m pension savers’ records.
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Pension transfer values fall 6% in 2025
Pension transfer values have fallen 6% since the start of 2025, despite a modest increase in September.
The quarterly average was almost 3% down on the end of June, according to XPS’s Transfer Value Index.
While overall values remain low, the firm said the index has shown a period of greater stability, with month-end values fluctuating within a £5,000 range over the past six months.
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Transfer activity increased slightly in September, with XPS Group’s Transfer Activity Index rising to an annualised rate of 18 in every 1,000 members transferring their benefits to alternative arrangements. After a steady start to 2025, the Index has shown greater volatility over recent months, the company said.
Helen Cavanagh, senior consultant at XPS Group, said: “While transfer values have fallen over the course of 2025, we have also seen signs of greater stability over Q3 which is a promising sign, suggesting a more predictable environment for pension decision-making. This is crucial for members approaching retirement as they will be able to make more informed decisions about the options that may be most suitable for them.
“The increased stability may also be having an impact on transfer volumes, which we have generally increase in 2025, despite the small dip in recent months.”
The firm’s latest Scam Flag Index reported that 92% of cases reviewed by the XPS Scam Protection Service in September raised at least one scam warning flag – a marginal 1% drop from August. It marks the first quarter since the summer of 2023 where the Index has remained above 90%.
Ms Cavanagh said: “It’s clear that the issue of pension scams is not going away, with the majority of transfers continuing to raise at least one scam warning flag, albeit it in many cases this is the ‘overseas investments’ flag which some may view as a lower risk flag.”
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Pension funds invest billions in regional growth
Britain’s pension providers and insurers have joined forces with the government to back a regional growth drive through a new group which will be launched at the first-ever Regional Investment Summit on Tuesday.
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274,000 people called Pension Tracing Service in 5 years
The government’s Pension Tracing Service received 273,709 calls from people keen to trace their lost retirement savings between 1 January 2021 and 29 September 2025.
SIPP operator Corporate & Professional Pensions Ltd (FRN: 465748) has been declared in default by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
Inheritance tax receipts for April to June were £2.2bn, over £100m higher than the same period last year, according to new HMRC figures published today.
The restricted remit of the new Pensions Commission will limit its ability to deal with the scale of the problem, according to LCP partner and former Pensions Minister Steve Webb.
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall has confirmed that the third statutory Government review into when and how to raise the State Pension age will begin straightaway.
The Society of Pension Professionals said the revival of the government’s landmark Pension Commission is good news as it will consider a wide range of potential solutions rather than focusing solely on automatic enrolment.
Nearly one in 10 estates liable for inheritance tax paid more than £500,000 in the latest available year, with the number expected to soar from April 2027 when pensions are set to be included in IHT calculations.
In the 2021/22 tax year, 2,520 estates paid more than £500,000 in IHT, a 29% increase over three years.
If the trend seen over three years to the end of 2021/22 continues, more than 3,524 estates will pay £500,000 or more in IHT by end of the current tax year.
The figures were obtained through a new FOI by wealth manager Rathbones.
They showed that of the 27,850 estates liable for IHT in the 2021/2022 tax year, 1,630 paid between £500,000 and £999,999 in IHT, while a further 890 estates paid more than £1m.
That totals more than 2,520 estates, 9% of all estates in the year that were liable for inheritance tax. That represents a 29% increase from the figure recorded at the end of the 2018/19 tax year, and the number is rising, Rathbones warned.
Rebecca Williams, divisional lead of Financial Planning at Rathbones, said: “More and more people will be caught out by IHT charges, despite the availability of gifting allowances and the seven-year rule. The deep freeze on both the main nil-rate band and the residence nil-rate band, unchanged since 2009 and 2017 respectively, has led to a creeping form of fiscal drag.
“As house prices and asset values have steadily risen, more estates are being brought into the IHT net simply because the thresholds haven’t kept pace with inflation.”
She said the issue will worsen from April 2027, when pension assets are brought into the fold and the change could pull even modest estates into scope for IHT.
She said that makes it increasingly vital for families to engage in effective Financial Planning. “Without proactive steps, more estates will find themselves facing IHT bills they might not have anticipated.”
Additional research by Rathbones on the impact of the Government’s plans around IHT found that nearly one in three, 31%, people with pensions say they are put off making further contributions to their pension pots by the changes, which means they lose the tax efficiencies of pension saving.
The money they are no longer contributing to their pensions is most likely to be put in cash – around two out of five, 39%, questioned said they will deposit the money in savings accounts while 25% plan to invest some of the money in equity ISAs.
Almost one in seven, 14%, questioned say they have already changed their focus to property investment as a result of the decision.
Rathbones commissioned Viewsbank to survey 619 people with pensions, cash ISAs, investment ISAs, shares, investment funds and cash savings between March 14th and March 17th,. The sample represented the demographic profile of the UK.