As the shackles of pension rules are loosened, individuals will need to show great restraint in coming years to avoid the rapid depletion of savings earmarked to pay their living costs once they give up work. Alan Adler welcomes the increased flexibility available to him from next April when rules on income that can be taken from pensions will be relaxed.
One in five of us withdraws cash using a credit card on average seven times a year – at a combined cost of £214million. David Smart says he should have read the small print.
A survey by consumer campaginers Which? found that just 42 per cent of people reaching the end of their working lives trust their pension provider.
The first phase of Help to Buy – the Equity Loan Scheme – was due to be on offer for just three years and be phased out in April 2016. It’s now going to be available until 2020 – and the news has been well received. Personal trainer Claire Archer, 34, spoke to Help to Buy agent Plumlife and found she needed a deposit of only £6,400 to secure a £128,000 two-bedroom flat in Manchester last year.
With a competition review under way, Labour would find it all but impossible to impose a price freeze without waiting for the results of the report if it came to power.
Hardship payments have also been made to families affected by the disappearance of flight MH370.
Britain is working with nine other countries to draw up shared dossiers on the tax affairs of such groups, it was revealed in documents released with last week’s Budget.
Sainsbury's has won the right to a judicial review in its battle against an allegedly misleading advertising campaign that claimed Tesco's products were cheaper.
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SIMON WATKINS: Free-spending pensioners are a danger
Could Osborne’s annuities revolution provide a rapid boost to the economy? I hope not.
Spring clean your finances: How to save thousands of pounds and start good habits
How to control your spending, cut your bills and make yourself richer.
HETHERINGTON: My special needs daughter faces debt collectors
But she doesn't remember opening the account and I didn't open it
'Help! I took out an annuity before the Budget: can I cancel it and get my pension pot back?'
How are insurers' policies changing?
Bingo clubs to splash the cash after Budget boost
Mecca Bingo is spending the money saved to pay for new tablet devices in its clubs.
SHARE TIPS: Tasty airline food! So tuck into Journey Group shares
Journey has pioneered a way of delivering gourmet meals to US airlines.
'State-backed mortgage lender sold my buy-to-let properties for 30% of what they were worth'
Landlords critical of UKAR/Mortgage Express.
A Budget move worth a bit of interest:
Savings rates might be poor now but the new super Isa allowance could earn big returns in the future.
Rates might need to be hike faster than Bank of England realises, says rebel policymaker
UK economy could reach full capacity soon, says MPC's Weale.
I'm due to cash in my pension this year, but following the Budget, should I delay?
This is Money asks industry experts their thoughts.
BUDGET 2014 WINNERS AND LOSERS: Who gains and who's in pain?
Savers and retirees pleased by George Osborne's speech.
Will you be better or worse off from next month?
Budget 2014 tax changes in detail.
Airline food tends to be tasteless, nondescript and unsatisfying. But imagine if it came straight from a top restaurant and turned flying into a gastronomic experience. Journey Group aims to do just that as it has pioneered a way of delivering gourmet meals to US airlines. The company’s full-year results are out on Tuesday, they are expected to be good and the shares, now 1351⁄2p, should rise both in the short-term and over the next two to three years.
We round up the Sunday newspaper share tips. This week: Journey Group, Portmeirion, and GW Pharmaceuticals.
Billions of pounds were wiped off the value of insurance companies as the impact of the Budget on pensions took hold. But Xavier Rolet sees only good news.
The 325-year-old insurance market’s first female chief executive will release the consolidated results for its underwriter members on Wednesday.
Re-tipped in August last year by Midas at 32p, the shares have soared by 48 per cent since then to 471⁄4p and City backers reckon they should continue to gain ground.
Jon Ingram is part of a 45-strong investment team at JP Morgan’s London office using ‘behavioural finance’ to extract a return from £15billion of European equities.
BALANCE TRANSFERS
FIVE FAVOURITE ISAS
BEST BANK ACCOUNTS
TOP CREDIT CARDS
CUT ENERGY BILLS
CHEAP MORTGAGES
CAR INSURANCE
HOLIDAY SPENDING
BALANCE TRANSFERS
FIVE FAVOURITE ISAS
As the exchange rate edges back in favour of sterling, buyers are back, purchasing properties in France, Spain, Italy and Portugal. Our guide will help you find a place in the sun – without getting burnt. Jayne Johnson said buying a property in France was relatively easy.
Only two all-male boards remain in the FTSE 100 – at natural resources group Glencore Xstrata and miner Antofagasta.
I became aware that my daughter had an account with Santander when a debit card arrived in her name and a few months later we started receiving telephone calls.
New Government measures mean savers can look forward to bigger allowances and the flexibility to save more in cash or switch from cash to equities – and for the first time, from equities to cash. Paul Martin is delighted that the annual Isa allowance will leap to £15,000 from July.
In more than 25 years of reporting on Budgets I cannot remember one quite as revolutionary as Wednesday’s.
Buy-to-let mortgages are set to defy gravity this spring. Fiona Brown has a buy-to-let flat in Cambridge, where prices are tipped to rise.
Could Osborne’s annuities revolution provide a rapid boost to the economy? Could it lift house prices? Could it even boost tax revenues to the Exchequer? I hope not.
We’ll teach you how to control your spending, switch to the best deals — and then pass on some ideas that are actually going to start making you richer. We don’t even expect you to stop doing the things you like. So if you shop in Waitrose because you prefer it to Morrisons, then fine, stick with it.
Before you buy anything, check first to see whether there is a discount voucher you can use. Cut them out of magazines and search on websites.
Cashback websites pay you to shop. Read here how just a few minor changes to your spending habits could earn you hundreds a year.
Anyone who fills in a budget for the first time generally ends up feeling totally dismayed when they see the final tally.
Follow these simple steps to save more as you’re about to save £2,000. For an honest day’s work, that’s a mega-salary of your own making.
You’d never stay in a relationship with someone who took you for granted. So why stick with a bank that routinely lets you down?
If you’ve not switched your energy supplier regularly over the past five years, you’ve probably lost more than £1,000, according to comparison website uswitch.
The Home Office is proposing to hand the power to set licence fees – paid by bars, pubs and anywhere that serves alcohol – from Whitehall to local authorities. It also plans to scrap the banding scheme that links the price of the licence to the rateable value of the property.
BorrowMyDoggy, which allows dog-lovers to take care of someone else’s pet, has won a six-figure investment and is launching an app in six weeks.
Mecca Bingo is spending the money saved by Osborne’s decision to slash tax on bingo from 20 per cent to 10 per cent to pay for new tablet devices in its clubs.
The industry has been lobbying for tax reliefs enjoyed by the film and TV industries and which were extended to theatre by the Chancellor.
This year, 40,000 firms with up to 249 employees will fall under rules requiring them to offer pensions to staff, starting next month.
The Chancellor’s savings shake-up has hammered shares of some of the UK’s biggest pension firms. The question on many investors’ lips is what should they do now? Although insurers will be hurt by a likely slump in annuity sales, experts believe they also stand to gain from the increase in the tax free ISA limit, which is increasing from £11,520 to £15,000 on July 1.
From Oxfordshire to Bristol and along the South Coast, open days, gazumping and ghost gazumping seem all that home buyers talk about.
James Cadbury is launching a website that lets investors take a stake in the rising housing market, even if they cannot afford to buy a property of their own.
As retirees no longer have to buy an annuity with their savings, it is likely that many will choose to plunge their cash into the buy-to-let market.
The watchdog is reported to be looking at a move to The International Quarter, a new development between Stratford Station and the Olympic stadium.
Although many prudent savers celebrated this move, some were questioning what difference it would make to them considering they don’t have £15,000 to spare. Many added that although this was a positive step, with cash Isa rates so low it won’t make much of a difference. All-in-all, the backlash goes, it’s an eye-catching move that won’t currently cost the Treasury too much.
Writing off unpaid student loans is becoming more expensive than under the old £3,000-a-year system as Universities Minister David Willetts admits 'we got the maths wrong'.
George Osborne was yesterday warned constant meddling with the tax regime facing British business could derail the recovery.
The Government's change of tack on carbon duties and tax allowances for capital investment hardly provides a stable background for long-term investment.
ISA money had already been flowing into the AIM market, after the chancellor extended the tax-efficient wrapper to include AIM stocks last year.
Insurers have had to respond quickly to cater for customers who are going through the process of annuitising and may want to change their minds about their decision. This is Money sets out the options for people in this position.
A ‘mansion tax’ on the country’s most expensive properties could be introduced next year says Cabinet member Danny Alexander.
Shares in Partnership Assurance, headed by Steve Groves, were while those of Hargreaves Lansdown soared, leaving co-founder Peter Hargreaves ever richer.
The 45-year-old works for the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, earning £43,000 a year, and said the higher rate has a huge impact on his family’s finances. He said the way families in the squeezed middle were taxed was unjust. ‘I was disappointed to still fall in that 40p tax bracket.'
Mrs Walker, 48, shops around for the best Isa interest rates and then uses the full allowance each year whenever she can. After overcoming cancer in 2001, Mrs Walker likes to save money for family holidays so she can spend quality time with her daughters.
Mrs Robbins, 54, of Stroud, Gloucestershire, had been in the process of deciding what to do with one of her pension pots which amounted to £47,000. She had been offered an annuity of £1,475 a year and tried to research her options in order to avoid paying for financial advice.
After years of disappointment, a Budget has finally gone the way of savers, with Isa customers and pension members both benefiting from major announcements from the Chancellor. Gamblers and insurance companies might not be so smug however. This is Money rounds up the big winners and the biggest losers from the latest Budget.
Big surprises for savers and those taking their pensions were unveiled by the Chancellor in his 2014 Budget.
Our at-a-glance tables show how tax and National Insurance changes will affect your income from April. We show how much richer or poorer you will be.
From April 2015, pension savers will be able to take as much as they like from their pension pots as a lump sum without fear of punitive tax charges, only paying the marginal rates on their withdrawals. The news came as a hammer blow for the annuity industry, with shares in major providers and insurance firms sent into freefall in the aftermath of yesterday's Budget.
The Chancellor pulled a huge metaphorical rabbit from his red Budget box this afternoon by increasing the Isa allowance to £15,000 from 1 July 2014. In a radical move, savers will be able to now stash £15,000 in the tax-free wrapper – and a massive change is that all of this can be held in a cash Isa. The Government has dubbed the accounts New Isa - or Nisa.
George Osborne revealed two new fixed products paying market-beating rates that will be made available to the over-65s from January 2015.
The monumental shift in pension policy was dramatically revealed as the Chancellor said the 13 million pension savers should be trusted to make the right decisions.
Banks and building societies handed out loans worth £15.2billion last month, making it the highest total for a February since 2008, the Council of Mortgage Lenders said.
A raft of radical measures unveiled by Chancellor George Osborne is expected to rake in an additional £4bn for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. This is part of a wider international effort to clamp down on individuals and companies that avoid tax, with Britain vowing to lead the way.
The Government has served notice on 13 million pension members that from next year they will be able to draw cash directly from their pots once they hit 55. This is Money has asked industry experts to give their thoughts on what people who had planned on cashing in their pensions soon should do in the next 12 months.
Osborne insisted people should be trusted to make the right financial decisions after announcing reforms that will allow people to dip into their pensions from 55.
In a rare nugget of good news for low-income savers, the Government is to abolish the 10% starting rate of tax for savings income and replace it with a new 0% rate in April 2015.
The IFS said Osborne's tax giveaways worth £4.9billion by 2018/19 could weaken the country in the long-run, and come as detail is lacking on spending cuts of more than 35%. Director Paul Johnson said, 'It's all been, on all sides, a tax cut here or a spending increase there, and they are all piddling relative to the tens of billions of cuts which are still coming down the line in terms of public services.'
The chain of 750 outlets, which employs 6,500 staff and serves around 200,000 customers a week, has been put up for sale as the mutual struggles to repair its finances.
The bank, which launched in October 2011, is offering a three-year fixed-rate bond with a significant rise on the 2.2 per cent it was previously offering.
I have an enhanced annuity pension with a listed pension provider whose shares plunged after changes to pension drawdown rules were announced in the Budget.
The so-called 'bad bank' set up to wind down the mortgage books of defunct mortgage lenders has come under attack for forcing landlords out of business. UK Asset Resolution has one aim – to shut the mortgage businesses down as quickly as possible, regardless of the impact on borrowers.
Buy-to-let landlord Brian Smart says heavy-handed treatment from state-owned lender Mortgage Express has robbed him of his retirement income and ruined his life. Mortgage Express’ homeloans book is now in the hands of UK Asset Resolution, a Government organisation that has shut it down as quickly as possible regardless of the impact on borrowers.
Around 2,000 households are getting free electricity on Saturdays on a new British Gas tariff. The idea is these households will get lower bills by doing all their chores at the weekend. So, does it work? Jenny Forsyth and her family put the new tariff to the test...
Across the UK, Yorkshire and Humberside are the cheapest areas for petrol, averaging at 129.1p a litre. When it comes to diesel, London shares the position as best-value region with the West Midlands, at 136.3p a litre. Scotland is the most expensive at 137.3p. On average, petrol cost 138.42p a litre in the UK this time last year, but has now dropped to 129.46p a litre.
Lend-to-save firms have long been campaigning for inclusion in the Isa wrapper and described the move as a 'huge opportunity' for the industry.
Research suggests 45 per cent of broadband customers have experienced slow download speeds, with more than half of them saying this was a recurrent problem.
Millions of savers can claim back some of the tax paid on the interest they earn in bank and building society accounts. We explain how to do it.
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To clear the average national household debt of £13,000 at 6% interest with a monthly repayment of £100 will take around 17 years. There are, however, plenty of simple ways to make significant savings on your regular spending that could clear your debt - or boost your savings - in less than a year. This is Money's top 50 – updated – money-saving tips may appear light-hearted but are deadly serious.
Choosing the right DIY platform is crucial but a wealth of choice and changes to charges have left many investors scratching their heads. We pick some of the best. We also highlight why investing in an Isa makes sense, as it should protect your hopefully growing investments from tax forever.
Investment companies have to produce a checklist of important details like charges and performance for each of their funds - but what do they leave out?
If you are new to investing then the huge number of funds and investment trusts on offer can be confusing. Fortunately, This is Money's experts have some ideas to get you started.
Neil Woodford is stepping down from his funds where he is Britain's favourite manager. We pick five alternative income funds and trusts worth a look.
Income investing can let you draw on your portfolio or reinvest dividends to build solid growth over time. Our experts give their fund and investment trust recommendations.
If you're looking to add some flair to your investing Isa with emerging markets, This is Money's experts have some ideas to get you started
The Association of Investment Companies has analysed all investment trusts to find the 20 strongest and most consistent performers of the last decade.
The Bank of England has said that interest rates will only rise gradually and even when the economy returns to normal are likely to be substantially below 5 per cent. In a dramatic revision of forward guidance, the Bank called time on its assertion that it would consider a rate rise when unemployment hit 7 per cent, and said slack in the economy meant the base rate needed to stay low.
For many buy-to-let looks an attractive income investment in a time of low rates and stock market volatility. Read our top ten buy-to-let tips
Borrowers have seen the best of the spectacularly cheap mortgages vanish, especially the cream of the five-year fixed rates. So should you act now?
London and the South East are skewing headline figures, but prices are now rising across the country. We analyse the latest figures and predictions.
Midwives in the UK get paid on average £29,248: so where does your salary fit into the national league table, and how does it compare to the average in your profession? Our table lists hundreds of Britain's jobs from company executives and doctors to van drivers, waiters and textile machine operators.
| Prize value | Winning bond No. | Area |
|---|---|---|
| £1,000,000 | 163EA927547 | Avon |
| £100,000 | 197RH801375 | Barnet |
| £100,000 | 156PH953651 | Hampshire and Isle of Wight |
| £100,000 | 89BR969901 | Derbyshire |
| £50,000 | 215GL211979 | Cardiff |
| £50,000 | 45JN073375 | Lancashire |
| £50,000 | 191WC341928 | South Scotland |
| £50,000 | 189QX899834 | Kent |
| £50,000 | 211AH352321 | Kent |
| £50,000 | 81TK770038 | Buckinghamshire |
| £50,000 | 213WX292785 | Hertfordshire |
Could this be the answer for frustrated savers?
New TSB current account pays 5% on balances - and no catches.
SIMON LAMBERT: What should the Chancellor do on Budget day?
I'd take an axe to these bad taxes
One in five of the post-war generation are selling their possessions to make ends meet
Are you an eBaby boomer?
Santander boosts its easy-access cash Isa rate to 1.6%
Direct Isa Saver upgraded just one week after launch.
The future of motoring?
Electric car version of Boris Bikes launched by French firm pledging to quadruple charging points.
Internet banking? It's so 2013...
40m UK current account holders will be able to send payments by mobile phone this year
How to start saving or investing into an Isa
- the essential guide to a tax-friendly pot.
We had to cancel our BA flights early as my wife fell ill
- this was six weeks in advance so why have we been left so out of pocket?
Santander launches 123 'mini' current account for children with a 3% tax-free savings rate
Bank looks to attract next generation of customers.
'Insurance cost me £68 and saved me £4,000':
Trip of a lifetime can end in financial disaster without gap year cover
Look beyond the fund usual suspects if you are hunting for income and growth:
Five rules to choosing a good investment trust
Why can't I move my money quickly when I see a better deal?
Stop locking savers' cash into low rates, banks told
'It feels like we're on permanent holiday':
The new breed of purpose-built retirement villages
Cost of a pint rises by 1,948% since 1973 thanks to inflation
-but can you guess what has seen its price tag soar even faster?
Could your mobile help you save on energy bills?
FREE app to turn the heating on or off on the move
'I've waited for three hours... and 10 days'
Your train is running late - and so is the refund.
The Jaguar XE which it hopes will win over the world's middle classes from BMW
Sneak peek of a new 'baby' Jaguar
'Insurance cost me £68 and saved me £4,000'
The steps gap year students need to take to avoid expensive pitfalls
Small business success
War on sugar makes mint for duo behind naturally sweetened gums company Peppersmith
Could an average central London flat really be worth £36MILLION by 2050?
You think property prices in the capital are high now...
MIDAS SHARE TIPS
Rare book dealer Scholium plans float to buy fine collections
American Express launches new credit card offering cashback on your spending...
- and no interest for 16 months.
Just how badly rising energy bills have ravaged household budgets
Households spent £69 a month in 2002. A decade later it's £106
Beat the taxman's deadline and build your nest-egg
With our guide to Isa investments
Fraudsters' five most wanted items
We reveal the personal information scammers would do anything to get hold of.
Hammered by overdraft charges?
New credit card offering current account holders 29 months to pay off debt interest-free
Do you know your Litecoin from your Dogecoin?
As Bitcoin take a dive we look at the virtual currency rivals waiting in the wings
The slow death of gold-plated pensions
Trouble for private sector workers continues
Homeowners could be hit with interest on mortgage support lifeline
As well as giving up stake in their home
Energy firms woo customers with promise of a free smart meter
...which they shouldn't have to pay for anyway
Bank of England risks creating another financial crisis
If it keeps interest rates too low for too long, warns economist
Two in five Scottish baby boomers expect to work past their pension age
They fear they will outlive their savings
Barclays rejects the most legitimate customer complaints
The independent disputes arbitrator reveals it upheld 77 per cent of complaints
What happens to money held in an Isa when the owner dies
...can their estate still benefit from a fixed-term interest rate?
TONY HETHERINGTON: It looks so convincing
...but carbon credit website is full of lies
'I've been waiting nearly four months for BT to connect us to the internet'
So much for working from home!
How crowdfunding allows investors to put money into the theatre
Happy days or comedy of errors?
'Storm in a coffee cup'
Waitrose scoffs at MP's gripe about free hot drinks and newspapers
Pets at Home staff set to celebrate £130m windfall
The pet shop is preparing to float on stock market
Depressed house prices in UK regions cause almost 500,000 to fall into negative equity
Market remains stagnant in parts of the UK
'What, this old thing? I made it myself with a little help from the internet'
The crafty mum who built a sewing start-up
THE MINOR INVESTOR: Is this as easy as investing gets?
The cheap but boring tracker funds that do all the work for you
A railcard for lovers?
Partners can get a third off train travel with first new discount card in 30 years - but they MUST travel together
Revealed: How to become an Isa millionaire in less than 30 years
You'll need to be prepared to save every year
Meet the man who single-handedly took on Monarch
Martin Longden won £3,278 in court after airline denied flight delay claim
Revealed: The five tricks rich parents use to cut private school costs
Savvy parents use a range of - perfectly legal - tactics to shrink the bill
'Financial advice made my pension dive from £89k to £20k'
Victory for expat retiree as This is Money gets his pot restored
How did Google let my son run up a £2,500 bill on a game?
I received the bill for charges from a Google Play App on my 12-year-old son's phone
House prices rise at strongest rate in four years
And the average London property hits a record £410K
| Currency | Rate | Buy now |
|---|---|---|
| Updated 23 Mar 2014. | ||
| Euro | 1.1737 | Buy Now |
| US Dollar | 1.617 | Buy Now |
| Australian Dollar | 1.7595 | Buy Now |
| Canadian Dollar | 1.8031 | Buy Now |
| Chinese Yuan | 9.856 | Buy Now |
| Croatian Kuna | 8.8492 | Buy Now |
| Czech Koruna | 31.641 | Buy Now |
| Danish Krone | 8.6237 | Buy Now |
| Egyptian Pound | 10.843 | Buy Now |
| Euro | 1.1737 | Buy Now |
| Hong Kong Dollar | 12.424 | Buy Now |
| Hungarian Forint | 356.12 | Buy Now |
| Japanese Yen | 164.34 | Buy Now |
| Malaysian Ringgit | 5.2355 | Buy Now |
| New Turkish Lire | 3.5807 | Buy Now |
| New Zealand Dollar | 1.8806 | Buy Now |
| Norwegian Krone | 9.6467 | Buy Now |
| Polish Zloty | 4.8045 | Buy Now |
| Singapore Dollar | 2.0332 | Buy Now |
| South African Rand | 17.359 | Buy Now |
| Sterling | 1.0 | Buy Now |
| Swedish Krona | 10.201 | Buy Now |
| Swiss Franc | 1.4204 | Buy Now |
| Thai Baht | 51.09 | Buy Now |
| UAE Dirham | 5.8885 | Buy Now |
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Mortgage affordability: How much you can borrow
Find out how much you can afford to borrow and the difference between repayment and interest-only
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Premium Bonds: Have I won?
How close have you been to winning your fortune? Our unique calculator will try to show you
Pleasures v Treasures (how you can save more)
How diverting the cash you 'waste' on everyday items into a long-term savings plan pays off
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