With the end of the 2020-2021 tax year on 5 April 2021, here are a number of ideas to make the most of your tax allowances and available tax reliefs.
Read moreSocially Responsible Investment
The world of investment is changing, especially where it is no longer possible to ignore statements from our own UK Government making it clear that change is happening.
The Climate Change Act 2008 committed the UK to an 80% reduction in carbon emissions relative to the levels in 1990, to be achieved by 2050. In June 2019, secondary legislation was passed that extended that target to “at least 100%”.
Read moreWhy have an annual review?
November 2020 and the world is still in the midst of the Global pandemic that is Covid-19.
Lockdown, and the easing of restrictions, has led us to living life and looking at life differently and more closely.
But how often should we be looking at our financial wellbeing?
Read morePension lifetime allowance – important planning decisions
You usually pay tax if your pension pots are worth more than the lifetime allowance (LTA), which is currently £1,073,100 (Tax year 2020/2021) and which has increased annually by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) since the 2018/19 tax year.
The Lifetime allowance is triggered when a member reaches age 75 or accesses their pension benefits.
Read morePension Freedoms
April 2015 saw the introduction of pension freedoms. So, what does this actually mean for people who are looking to access their pension pot?
Prior to April 2015 the options available for the majority of people were very limited and in most cases an annuity would be the only option, offering a lack of flexibility and a poor deal especially with interest rates being at rock bottom.
Read moreISAs – 21 years on
This April, ISAs celebrate their 21st birthday. So, I thought it would be a good idea to remind you how good an investment vehicle they can be, just before the end of this tax year.
Statistics suggest ISAs have become a huge hit with savers. The value of adult ISAs stand at over £600 billion, shared between around 22 million account holders. They have also proved popular with successive Chancellors as a means of encouraging the saving habit with the annual subscription limit having almost trebled since launch.
Read moreWhat risk are you taking with your money?
With so much uncertainty out there, people are quite rightly thinking about every decision made. Sometimes even holding back on non-essential expenditure in order to keep savings or build on savings just in case.
These decisions are all based on you weighing up the pros of buying that TV vs the risk that you may need the money soon. This simple decision has lots of moving parts to it and is affected by your past decisions and experiences, as well as other considerations. You are assessing risk.
Read moreIs more change on the horizon for the already complicated inheritance tax rules?
This month, The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) launched their latest report. The topic this time was inheritance tax.
The OTS does not consider policy issues such as should a tax abolished – they instead look at the administrative side of taxation.
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Pensions Dashboard – Is it time to review your old Pensions?
Did you know that there is over £400million sitting in pensions that people have lost? 1
1 https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/pensions/article-4644230/Is-worth-combining-pensions-one.html
On average people undertake 11 jobs during their lifetime which could mean 11 different pensions. This makes it very difficult to work out how much money you will actually have once you retire.
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