It's been dubbed the 'Budget for Financial Planners' (by a financial planner) and sparked a mass sell-off of shares in insurance businesses.
Budget 2014 served a pensions surprise: The government has legislated to remove all remaining tax restrictions on how pensioners have access to their pension pots. "Retirees", George Osborne said, "have been given complete freedom to draw down as much or as little of their pension pot as they want, anytime they want." What's more, the government has pledged to give £20m to providers and trust-based pension schemes to develop models which will enable everyone to be offered "free, impartial, face-to-face advice" on how to get the most from the choices they will now have. Advisers hav...
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