When it comes to structuring your wealth, most people are familiar with pensions, ISAs and direct investments. Yet there’s another option that can play an important role in your financial planning, the investment bond. An investment bond is a type of life insurance policy used as an investment vehicle. Instead Read more…
For many business owners, the biggest threat to financial security isn’t always the market, the competition or even the broader economy. It’s the risk of losing the one person whose absence could destabilise everything. It is a scenario that many businesses owners dread, but it does happen all too often Read more…
The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) will no longer charge a levy this year, freeing up £45 million across 5,000 Defined Benefit (DB) pension schemes. This annual charge on eligible defined benefit pension schemes funds the PPF, which is designed to compensate members if their employer’s business becomes insolvent. Under previous Read more…
Life insurance is often taken out to provide financial security, but many policyholders in the UK may be overlooking a costly oversight: the way their policy is structured could expose their beneficiaries to unnecessary Inheritance Tax (IHT). In the 2022/23 tax year, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) data shows that Read more…
The triple lock, which guarantees the State Pension rises each year by the highest of inflation, average earnings growth of 2.5 per cent has kept retirement incomes rising in recent years. The full new State Pension now stands at £230.25 a week or £11,973 a year after a 4.1 per Read more…