by Brian Downton | J, Nov, 2017 | blog, Pensions
Since April 2015, pensioners have had greater freedom over how they manage their retirement savings. No longer forced to buy an annuity, they can now leave their money invested and draw an income from it (known as flexi-access drawdown). Whether you’ve already stopped...
by Brian Downton | J, Oct, 2017 | blog, Pensions
Have you ever stopped to think about the monthly income you’d need to provide for a comfortable retirement? If you’re thinking it would be the equivalent of your current salary you’ve probably overestimated. Remember, by the time you retire, you will...
by Brian Downton | J, Aug, 2017 | blog, Pensions
Could you survive on £8,000 a year or less, in retirement? If you’ve given up work to look after your family, you’ll be among those least likely to save for retirement simply because you have no income. And when it comes to the State Pension, you’ll usually need at...
by Brian Downton | J, Aug, 2017 | blog, mortgages, Pensions
The news is always full of stats about first-time buyers In 2016 there were an estimated 335,750 first-time buyers – the highest figure since 359,900 in 2007 The average first-time deposit has more than doubled since 2007 to more than £32,000 • the average price...
by Brian Downton | J, May, 2017 | blog, Pensions
Automatic enrolment and you Auto-enrolment is a Government initiative where all workers will be automatically enrolled into a workplace pension. New figures show that by 2020 over 10 million people are expected to be newly saving or saving more as a result of...
by Brian Downton | J, May, 2017 | blog, Pensions
With the introduction of pension freedoms in 2015, we now have a range of options when deciding how to fund our retirement. But few of us stop to consider what might happen on our death: retirement itself seems far enough away! Under the previous regulations,...
by Brian Downton | J, Feb, 2017 | blog, Pensions
The April 2015 pension changes scrapped compulsory annuities, giving pensioners greater choice over how to take their retirement income. In principle, this historic change to UK pension legislation opened up a range of investment opportunities. With increased control...
by Brian Downton | J, Jan, 2017 | blog, general, Pensions
Research carried out by the Small Business Research Centre at Kingston University revealed there are an estimated 1.9 million freelancers in the UK, representing 36% growth over the past eight years. Almost two thirds of all freelancers work in four main industry...
