Retirement

The government's response to a public petition asking for the removal of the 70% tax charge on leftover Alternatively Secured Pension Funds, is a clear signal retirees need to be more innovative, claims Living Time.

HARGREAVES Lansdown has seen a significant increase in both ISA investments and SIPP sales over the last year.

The pensions industry has been left disappointed by the Prime Minister's response to a petition calling for the abolition of the 70% tax charge on funds left from Alternatively Secured Pension.

The potential risk of mis-selling personal accounts, particularly to women over the age of 45, has been dismissed by the government.

An amendment to the Pensions Bill is being tabled which could force the government to create a "lifeboat" fund financed by dormant accounts, to compensate pensioners who lost their retirement incomes through pension scheme wind-ups.

A former member of the Pensions Commission has backed the government's current proposals for personal accounts, including the suggestion to increase the annual contribution limit to £5,000.

The Department for Work and Pensions has started advertising for the chief executive of the personal accounts delivery authority, with the expectation someone will be in place by the summer.

One in five advisers believe the 'pensions crisis' has got worse since the introduction of pensions simplification in April last year.

Annual savings of more than £1bn resulting from the abolition of contracting-out should be used to encourage private saving, rather than subsumed into general government revenues, says the Association of British Insurers.

MORE than one third of financial advisers have seen an upturn in pension business since ‘A Day', according to a new survey commissioned by Investec.