Making the jump to self-employment could damage your pension savings Personal Finance Employees making the leap into self-employment could put their retirement at risk, with many unlikely to continue saving into a pension upon leaving auto-enrolment. Roughly one in five self-employed workers save into a private pension, compared with around four in five employees, leaving those working for themselves at greater risk of having insufficient savings upon [...]
Government sets out conditions for unlocking ‘trapped capital’ in defined benefit pension schemes Personal Finance The government has published a consultation setting out conditions on freeing ‘trapped’ capital from defined benefit pension schemes, in a bid to keep pace with the rapidly changing pension landscape and free up greater amounts of capital. The consultation, published on Wednesday by the Department of Work and Pensions, set out plans to give trustees [...]
‘Unnecessary bureaucratic hoops’: Pension savers fall victim to outdated scam safeguards Personal Finance The government’s pension scam safeguards have been called into question after only a minority of transfers flagged as potential scams were found to be genuinely high-risk, slowing savers’ transfer process. Of the 51,417 amber flags on pensions since November 2021, just 18 per cent were found to relate to high-risk investments or other flagged categories, [...]
Cliff-edge warning: Fewer than 10 per cent of Brits to achieve a comfortable retirement June 3, 2026 Large numbers of Brits are at risk of facing a retirement ‘cliff edge’ as people fail to save enough to achieve a moderate or comfortable retirement. For someone living on their own, a comfortable lifestyle would require an annual income of £45,400, a level only nine per cent of Brits are on track to hit, [...]
Delaying estate planning could cost affluent Brits over £12bn June 3, 2026 Brits who are putting off dealing with their estate planning could lose over £12bn in preventable inheritance tax from April 2027, as more middle-income earners brace to be ensnared in the tax net. Families who are in the top decile of UK wealth who do not begin estate planning until they are 70 could fail [...]
Pension master trusts join forces to tackle outdated transfer systems June 2, 2026 Eight pension master trusts have joined forces in a bid to improve the pension transfer system following uproar over its outdated and sluggish practices. The group, dubbed Pathfinder, brings together trusts including Nest, Smart Pension and People’s Pension, which represent over £162.7bn in funds under management and 14.5m savers. It aims to examine the current [...]
Moving abroad won’t save you from the British tax man May 29, 2026 Brits have become ensnared in tax traps following an upheaval of the system by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in the past two Autumn Budgets. UK households have been slammed by a number of shake-ups, including an extended freeze of the income tax thresholds, a hike to dividend tax and a new ‘mansion tax’ on properties valued [...]
Property rich, pension poor: Meet the ‘sleepwalking’ generation May 28, 2026 Those born between 1965 and 1980 could suffer from weaker retirement prospects despite being deemed property rich, after failing to be included in generous pension schemes. The so-called Generation X are at risk of “sleepwalking” into an inadequate retirement, regardless of their high exposure to property, owning twice as many buy-to-let homes as Baby Boomers, [...]
Ask the expert: Should I invest instead of buying a home? May 28, 2026 Fidelity personal financial specialist Marianna Hunt is back on hand to answer your burning questions, and today a reader wants to know whether to take the plunge and buy a property or invest. Q. I’m in my late 20s and have managed to save around £20,000, which I initially thought I’duse as a deposit to [...]
Older women at risk of running out of money as gender wealth gap widens with age May 19, 2026 Older women remain at risk of retiring without enough capital, despite being further into their careers, as the gender wealth gap continues to widen as they get older. Women in the UK hold 21 per cent less wealth than men, but this doubles to 42 per cent by age 64, according to the latest research [...]