Latest Columns
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Tilley: Rebooting the FOS makes sense
I’ve written before about the lack of coherence in the UK’s pension complaints landscape and it remains a source of real frustration for those of us working in the sector.
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Lisa Webster: Pension age uncertainty lingers on
We’ve known for many years that normal minimum pension age, NMPA it's known, is going up.
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Tilley: Are we asking too much of pension savers?
Working in UK pensions, I’ve always accepted that the system evolves. Fiscal pressures change, demographics shift, and governments recalibrate policy objectives. But even allowing for that, the pace and volume of legislative change in the pensions space over the last few years feels unprecedented, and in my view increasingly problematic.
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Lisa Webster: Beware IHT and pensions double taxation
One of the most disliked aspects of bringing pensions into the estate for inheritance tax (IHT) purposes from 6 April 2027 is the double taxation that will occur when the member dies on or after their 75th birthday.
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Lisa Webster: Should tax-free cash always be taken?
Since the Lifetime Allowance was abolished and replaced with the Lump Sum Allowance (LSA) and lump sum and death benefit allowance (LSDBA), we have seen an increase in SIPP members who want to take drawdown only – foregoing the right to take the associated pension commencement lump sum (PCLS).
Popular News
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Government to increase SSAS scam protections
The Government has issued draft regulations to address concerns about scam risks for members of small self-administered schemes (SSAS).
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Transact adds new trust to help with IHT pension tax
Transact has unveiled the new Flexible Reversionary Trust (FRT) which it says will help advisers prepare for the April 2027 IHT changes when unused pension funds will be subject to IHT.
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James Jones-Tinsley: The pension challenges ahead
On 19 May, the Pensions Commission published its Interim Report on the state of retirement saving in the UK.
The latest data suggests that only 14% of divorcees are splitting retirement assets when they break up, according to a national wealth manager.
Wealth manager Quilter says that many divorcing couples may be missing out on a valuable benefit as a result.
With relaxation of divorce rules on the way the company believes more people may choose to divorce without seeking financial advice and will lost out as a result.
The company, which includes Quilter Financial Planning, says it is possible some divorcing couples may be choosing alternative arrangements, for example where one party keeps their pension but relinquishes the family home, but this still ignores the possibility that a retirement pot may be the most valuable asset.
Quilter has looked at the latest figures from the Family Law Courts. These show that there were 118,408 petitions filed for dissolution of marriage in 2018, but only 14% contained “some sort” of pension settlement order.
This is despite a recent trend in people getting divorced later in life, it says. According to the Office for National Statistics, the median age of divorce for men and women has increased by 10 years between 1987 and 2017, says Quilter.
As people divorce later, this group has less time to build a retirement income if they did not have a pension of their own, meaning dividing this asset could be key to avoiding “pension poverty”, says Quilter. ONS data shows that 45% of women aged 65 or over have no private pension wealth.
Since 2015 the use of pension attachment orders has increased by 61%, while pension sharing orders have risen by 41%. However, while both types of pension orders have increased in popularity, they still represent a relatively small percentage of total divorce cases, says Quilter.
|
Year |
Petitions filed for dissolution of marriage |
Pension sharing orders |
Pension attachment orders |
Total pension settlements |
|
2011 |
129,313 |
9,152 |
2,283 |
11,435 |
|
2012 |
124,453 |
9,841 |
3,100 |
12,941 |
|
2013 |
117,508 |
9,538 |
2,888 |
12,426 |
|
2014 |
112,603 |
9,039 |
2,855 |
11,894 |
|
2015 |
114,571 |
8,197 |
2,993 |
11,190 |
|
2016 |
114,127 |
10,394 |
4,243 |
14,637 |
|
2017 |
109,353 |
11,822 |
4,351 |
16,173 |
|
2018 |
118,421 |
11,532 |
4,817 |
16,349 |
|
2019 (Q1-Q3) |
88,217 |
8,586 |
3,395 |
11,981 |
Source: Quilter
Jon Greer, head of retirement policy at Quilter, said: “Divorce is an emotional and stressful period for those who have to go through it. However, it’s important that people think of these valuable assets when considering how they split their money. This is particularly problematic given the average age of divorcees and it is more likely that a woman will not have any sizable pension of their own.
“With rules around divorce potentially becoming more relaxed in the future via no-fault divorce laws, we could see a further increase in do it yourself divorces where specialist advice is not sought. This could see many miss out on important pension benefits.”
Chancellor Sajid Javid is likely to tackle some thorny pensions problems in his first post-election Budget which will take place on Wednesday 11 March.
Financial Planning-based adviser and pension benefits company LEBC has unveiled what it calls a ‘Bionic Advice’ service designed to make financial advice more widely available and more affordable.
HSBC Master Trust has become the first new master trust to be authorised by The Pensions Regulator which has so far focused on authorising existing schemes.
Curtis Banks, the SIPP and SSAS provider, has predicted that growth in the retirement advice sector in 2020 will come mainly from pension savers and advisers changing or switching existing drawdown plans.
The SIPP and platform fintech firm Gaudi has recruited three senior industry figures to help with expansion and new wins.