Early last month, City AM had a dramatic headline: ‘Cash-strapped homeowners turn their properties into personal cash machines.’ They reported that equity release was ‘booming’, with homeowners releasing a total of £4.8bn from their homes in 2021. Ten years previously, the amount released was just £790m with only two years out of the ten – …
A happy retirement doesn’t just happen by itself. You’ve got to make it happen, and that involves lots of careful planning and asking yourself what you really want from your post-working life. The most obvious answer to that question is money, as we’ll all want financial security when we retire. But that’s not all. We’ll …
Do you know how much your home has gone up in value since you bought it? If you purchased your house more than 20 years ago, chances are it’s worth a great deal more than it was originally. According to Aviva, the average value of a property owned by 65 to 74-year-olds is now £287,000. …
Putting money aside for the future is one of the most fundamental principles of good financial planning. But with inflation at a 30-year high, and set to rise even further over the coming months, countless families and households are struggling to pay the bills and put food on the table. As a result, the idea …
If you’re creating a financial plan, with a view to achieving certain ambitions in life, you need to include details. For instance, if you want to travel more in later life, you can’t simply say you’ll put money aside for holidays. Or if you want to retire early, simply putting money into a pension isn’t …
Ageing and death aren’t easy subjects to think about, but as we get older, they’re topics that it would be foolish to ignore. The average life expectancy in the UK is continuing to increase, which means many more of us might struggle to manage our own affairs and remain independent in the future. That in …
The government has confirmed that the minimum age for drawing a personal pension is to rise to 57 in 2028. Savers who pay into a personal pension either directly or through their workplace can currently access their money at 55. However, the government plans to raise the age as a result of increased life expectancy. …
Why Higher Rate Taxpayers Should Be Paying Attention to Their Pension Contributions After the 2020 Budget You may be missing out on paying money into your pension, as many of you can now pay more and receive tax benefits. If you’re a higher rate taxpayer and you opted out of your pension scheme …
When do you become classed as elderly? Or are you as simply as old as you feel? Research from the Office for National Statistics has revealed that although 65 has traditionally heralded the beginning of old age, 70 is now a more accurate figure. 65 used to be seen as the gateway to old age …
Do you feel like you just go to work day in, day out, with the weeks quickly turning to months and the months to years? If that’s the case, you may be going through life with a vague notion that your pension contributions will be enough to give you a comfortable retirement without having done …
