Consolidating your pension plans The reasons people transfer their pensions vary, with some looking for better fund performance and lower charges, and others having been made redundant. If you have a number of pensions from previous employers you should obtain professional advice as it may be appropriate to consolidate them, although this will depend on [...]

Passing on wealth in a tax-efficient manner Inheritance Tax (IHT) is an issue affecting increasing numbers of households across the country. Changes introduced in Chancellor Alistair Darling’s pre-Budget report in October 2007 have made it possible for couples and civil partners to combine their individual IHT allowances, so that it is easier for them to [...]

Is your cash struggling to keep pace with inflation? The current low interest rates are good news for mortgage repayments but not so good if you are relying on your savings to produce an income. If you are a saver rather than a borrower, you will have noticed the interest you are receiving has fallen [...]

Obtaining the right advice and knowing which products to choose is the key Making sure you have the correct amount of life assurance will enable you to protect your loved ones from having to deal with your financial burdens. That’s why obtaining the right advice and knowing which products to choose - including the most suitable [...]

How to diversify your portfolio The risk of directly investing in a single investment is that if the price drops in value, or the issuing company goes bust, you could lose money. A way of reducing this risk is having a spread of investments in different types of a particular asset. So rather than buying [...]

Converting your pension fund into an annuity Whether your retirement is a long way off or just around the corner, it’s important to think about how much income you’re going to have. And as you approach retirement, you’ll also have to decide how you’d like to receive the money from any pensions you’ve been saving [...]

Contributing a preferential sum into an employee’s pension plan Salary sacrifice (sometimes known as ‘salary waiver’) in the context of retirement planning is a contractual arrangement whereby an employee gives up the right to receive part of their cash remuneration, usually in return for their employer’s agreement to provide some form of non-cash benefit. Salary [...]

Spreading your capital across different investment vehicles Having the right mix of investments will enable you to plan to keep your savings ahead of any inflationary concerns you may have. Spreading risk and getting a good mix of assets is known as ‘diversification’. This is a relatively simple concept; it means spreading your capital across [...]

What retirement income should you aim for? Retirement may seem a long way off but are you saving enough now for a comfortable retirement in the future? A general rule of thumb suggests that you should aim for a retirement income of two-thirds of the amount you would expect to be earning at the end [...]

The highest first half on record According to the Investment Management Association (IMA), net retail sales of funds of funds (an investment strategy of holding a portfolio of other investment funds rather than investing directly in shares, bonds or other securities) totalled £3.8bn for the first six months of the year, the highest first half [...]