Expert Finance Blogs

Is your Pension tax-free cash at risk?

Apologies for my pre-occupation with Pensions in this Blog of late, although I have come across a couple of interesting scare-mongering (possibly) developments in the last week.

The first was in relation to Tax-free cash (Aka the ‘Pension Commencement Lump-Sum’). A colleague, and one of the higher-profile (a ‘Twitterer’) Independent Financial Advisers (IFA), were both contacted by Clients as a result of a Sunday newspaper article. These Clients were keen to release the tax-free cash from their Pensions...pronto!

The gist of the article in question was that the General Election, whether bringing about a change of Government or not, could adversely affect the tax-free cash (usually 25%) people can release from their Pensions. This scary story emanated from the writers belief that the incumbent political leaders would need to wrestle cash from somewhere as UK Plc is currently ‘hard up’...Public Sector net borrowing showing the first January deficit since records began in 1993...£4.3 Billion!

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Pension Annuities: Medical conditions/Cost of delay

I presented to 25 local business-people this morning on various financial advice topics. One was headed ‘At Retirement’.

Fear the Reaper

Hello again. You may have noticed that we removed the Personal Finance section from lse.co.uk. I thought this Blog section had gone too...but is seemingly the Blog that shall not die!

10 for 2010: Personal Financial Resolutions

It is the time of you to review our successes, challenges, and progress made. It is perfect timing, then, to suggest my top 10 points of ‘Best Practice’ to ensure that you have a good 2010 in Personal Financial Planning terms.

Life & Critical Illness Insurance Non-Disclosure

I caught the last 5-10 minutes of a consumer programme about failed insurance claims on ITV on Monday evening.

Pension vs. ISA: The Pro’s & Con’s

Legal & General, Hargreaves Lansdown, and Money Mail recently produced a natty little table showing the relative monetary merits of saving into a Pension or an ISA (Individual Savings Account).

Transferring your Pension? 7 key questions

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) are keen to ensure that Pension transfers are wholly justified in terms of being beneficial to the transferor.

Mortgage interest rates are falling

Mortgage interest rates are at their lowest level for a good few months, having fallen back since July.

Critical illness insurance quality & trusting advice

I visited a corporate Client yesterday to complete the paperwork for their business life & critical illness insurance. The three company Directors were taking sensible steps to protect their business.