Retirement

Tax exemptions as the result of pensions simplification and A-Day could see the government give away £2bn to the country's wealthiest individuals, just at a time when pensions for most are under-funded, Datamonitor says.

Prudential has today reached agreement on the purchase for the transfer of the pension annuity portfolio written in the with-profits fund of Resolution Life's subsidiary, Phoenix Life & Pensions (PLP).

The Board of the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has released a 'Statement of Investment Principles' to outline its policies regarding investment of the first year's levy.

The Inland Revenue says guidance offered to IFAs following 6 April 06, will only be offered as an online service, removing all paper-based structures.

Insurance firm Axa has launched an online pensions calculator on its recently-created website to aid advisers in the run up to A-Day.

The NAPF says three-quarters of final salary schemes are now closed to new members, with the next ‘big wave of change' being to close such schemes to existing members, because firms find them too expensive.

Fewer than one in ten women believe they will have sufficient income to ensure an adequate retirement, new research indicates.

Two draft orders, paving the way for new pension and inheritance tax rights for same-sex couples, similar to those shared by married couples, have been put before parliament.

New figures from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) reveal an additional 65,000 individuals, or 50,000 households, received Pension Credit in the first quarter of this year.

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) says attaching pensions and training issues to statutory bargaining, within the Employment Relations Act will impose a 'legislative straightjacket' on firms'.