Displaying items by tag: pensions

XPS Pensions Group has welcomed a proposed consultation from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on DB pension scheme consolidation.

So it was with bated breath that Chancellor Philip Hammond stood to deliver his November Budget speech. Rumours has been swirling for weeks that pensions could be hit with changes to taxation. It was suggested that this would be to pay towards the NHS deficit among other things. It was with great relief that when he sat down and we reviewed the actual Budget papers that this was all just speculation and there was little impact. This can only be a good thing as any meddling impacts the distrust that consumers have for the pensions system and makes it difficult for advisers to plan for the long term with clients. How many times have we heard that PCLS or tax-free cash as it is more commonly known will be scrapped? Every Budget for as long as I can remember.

Men and women will for the first time share the same state pension age of 65 from tomorrow (6 November 2018) marking a major pensions milestone set in train 25 years ago but critics say the change is far from fair to women.

The FCA has written to SIPP firms to reiterate regulatory commitments following the judgement in the Berkeley Burke case.

Experts breathed a sigh of relief as Philip Hammond’s Budget yesterday avoided a tax raid on pensions.

FCA data showed an increase in the number of complaints about regulated firms, with more than four million complaints during the first half of 2018.

With September’s CPI figures now being released we know what next year’s Lifetime Allowance (LTA) will be - £1,054,800. Whilst hardly a dizzying increase we are at least crawling in the right direction after years of being pegged back. I get a few surprised looks when I remind people that the original version of Finance Act 2004 included a clause that the standard lifetime allowance could only increase.

The launch, by the FCA and The Pensions Regulator yesterday, of a joint regulatory strategy aimed at taking action to deliver better outcomes for pension consumers has been backed by the profession.

Four trustees of a master trust, who failed to promptly invest members’ savings for three years, affecting 9,081 members and contributions of £1.4 million, have been fined by The Pensions Regulator (TPR).

Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond promised to ‘unlock’ the “untapped firepower of defined contribution pension schemes.”