What will next years general election bring?

Enable’s experienced IFA’s know that political change often brings fiscal change and for investments and wealth management tax management is vital. After the round of Autumn conferences all parties are promising major changes to tax, pensions, welfare and property over the next parliament.

Although it is tricky to predict what another coalition might bring these appear to be the key financial element of the key parties:

LibDems:
Wholesale reforms of pensions tax relief
Auto-escalation of pension contributions
New higher rate council tax bands
Higher taxes on investments
Raise the personal allowance to £12,500
No EU referendum unless there is major treaty change

Conservatives:
New schemes to boost home ownership and first-time buyers
Raise the personal allowance to £12,500
Raise the 40p tax band to £50,000
Hold an in/out EU referendum by 2017

Labour:
Raise new taxes from bankers’ bonuses, tobacco firms, payday lenders
Cut higher rate pensions tax relief to 20p
Introduce a fiduciary duty on all financial services staff
Reintroduce Schedule 19 stamp duty on UK funds
Reintroduce 50p income tax band on salaries over £150,000
No EU referendum unless there is major treaty change

Ukip:
Raise personal allowance to £13,500
Create new 35p tax band between £44,000 and £55,000
Scrap 50p income tax band
Leave the EU

Issued by: Enable Independent Financial Life Planners
25c North Street, Bishops Stortford, Herts CM23 2LD
Telephone: 01279 755950 - Fax: 01279 657339
Enable Independent Financial Life Planners is a trading style of Enable Independent Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
It is important always to seek independent financial advice before making any decision regarding your finances. If you would like any assistance, please contact us.
NOTHING CONTAINED IN THE ARTICLES SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AS GIVING INDIVIDUAL FINANCIAL ADVICE

What is a Personal Pension the basics?

A personal pension is exactly what it says on the tin and you can have one if you're employed but not in a company pension scheme, or you might want to have one in addition to a company pension. Or if you are self employed you may want to set up a personal pension or even if you are not working but can afford to put aside money for retirement you can have a personal pension.

You can pay a regular amount (usually monthly or annually), or a lump sum to the pension provider who will invest it on your behalf. The overall final value of your pension will depend on how much you have contributed over the years and how well the fund's investments have performed. Charges are made for setting up and running your pension and are normally deducted from your fund in the form of fund management charges.

The Annual Allowance for pension contributions is £40,000pa from 6 April 2014 this includes both employee and employer contributions. You can carry forward unused contributions from the previous three years (ie. back to 2011/2012 for 2014/15), potentially allowing contributions of up to £160,000 in a single year. HMRC has confirmed that you do not need to have made a contribution to a pension scheme in a year to be able to carry forward unused allowances – you simply need to have been a member.

For each pound you contribute to your scheme, the pension provider claims tax back from the government at the basic rate of 20 per cent. In practice, this means that for every £80 you pay into your pension, you end up with £100 in your pension pot. Enable’s IFA’s can help you decide if you want to set up a Personal pension.

Issued by: Enable Independent Financial Life Planners
25c North Street, Bishops Stortford, Herts CM23 2LD
Telephone: 01279 755950 - Fax: 01279 657339
Enable Independent Financial Life Planners is a trading style of Enable Independent Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
It is important always to seek independent financial advice before making any decision regarding your finances. If you would like any assistance, please contact us.
NOTHING CONTAINED IN THE ARTICLES SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AS GIVING INDIVIDUAL FINANCIAL ADVICE

Robots on the horizon

Enable's IFA’s in Bishop’s Stortford know it is hard to predict the future for investments but if you believe robotics are the future you might be interested to hear that EFT securities recently launched a fund to track the global robotics industry.

The Robo-Stox Global Robotics and Automation GO Units ETF has been listed on the London Stock Exchange and is the first ETF offering focused exposure to companies into robotics. It was developed by Robo-Stox, almost 40 per cent of the index’s companies are North American, with 35 per cent in Asia. Europe makes up just 22 per cent.

Robo-Stox Partners chief executive Richard Lightbound says the world is in the early stages of a “transformational new economic era” founded on robotics slowly becoming more and more part of our daily life. “After the rise of the internet age rapid advances in technology such as machine vision, motion sensors and image and voice recognition are enabling robots to perform increasingly sophisticated and delicate knowledge-based work,” he explains.  “Ageing populations and shrinking workforces will accelerate this trend.”

The annual global supply of industrial robots more than doubled to 170,000 units over the decade to 2013, according to the International Federation of Robotics.  Howie Li says “the robotics and automation industry includes heavy-duty factory lines as well as companies making automatic vacuum cleaners,” also “there are lots of sectors that will be looking at robotics, like agriculture and mining.” If you want to try and make sure your investments are linked to future trends Enables IFA’s in Bishop’s Stortford are here to help.

Issued by: Enable Independent Financial Life Planners
25c North Street, Bishops Stortford, Herts CM23 2LD
Telephone: 01279 755950 - Fax: 01279 657339
Enable Independent Financial Life Planners is a trading style of Enable Independent Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
It is important always to seek independent financial advice before making any decision regarding your finances. If you would like any assistance, please contact us.
NOTHING CONTAINED IN THE ARTICLES SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AS GIVING INDIVIDUAL FINANCIAL ADVICE

Planning a retirement abroad?

If you have always dreamed of retiring abroad Enables’ IFA’s of Bishops Stortford would be happy to help you with your financial planning and investments and there are some big decisions on the horizon for expats as the UK pensions rules change next April.

It is important to note that new rules coming into force next April will prevent those with pensions in unfunded public schemes, known as defined benefit (DB) schemes usually held by people who have worked in the military, the police, NHS workers and teachers, from transferring their pension overseas. The upshot of this means that anyone with savings in one of these schemes –– will find themselves at the mercy of exchange rates when it comes to how much they will get from their pension payments.

If you are serious about retirement abroad and hold a DB pension you still have time before April to move it to a Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme (Qrops). Qrops have obvious tax benefits, when you transfer them to a lower tax environment; they ensure your pension is paid in the currency of the country you live in, which removes currency risk. Exchange rate fluctuations are probably the greatest concern for those retiring abroad on a fixed pension amount.

Other types of pension are unaffected; if you want to live abroad so if you are in a defined contribution scheme, personal pension or self-invested personal pension (Sipp) for example, you are free to transfer your pension to a Qrops. Enable’s IFA’s of Bishop’s Stortford can help you look at how to make the most of your money and fulfill your retirement dreams


Issued by: Enable Independent Financial Life Planners
25c North Street, Bishops Stortford, Herts CM23 2LD
Telephone: 01279 755950 - Fax: 01279 657339
Enable Independent Financial Life Planners is a trading style of Enable Independent Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
It is important always to seek independent financial advice before making any decision regarding your finances. If you would like any assistance, please contact us.
NOTHING CONTAINED IN THE ARTICLES SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AS GIVING INDIVIDUAL FINANCIAL ADVICE

Asset allocation in bricks and mortar

Liquidity may never be far from the mind of anyone investing in bricks and mortar but many investment portfolios tend to have a slice of property in them. For wealth management Enables IFA’s know that balanced portfolios include bricks and mortar and with signs of recovery in the UK economy the trend to encourage investment in property has returned. Rather than make individual and more time consuming individual property investments having them as an asset class in a portfolio makes sense.

Mike Deverell an investment manager said recently, “We have done a fair bit of research comparing the Investment Property Databank index with economic growth and we know property is highly correlated to the economy. “With the economy doing better over the last 18 months it made sense that property was a good place to put money. Property as an asset class has done fantastically well in the last 12 months and you still get a much better return on a rental yield from a property than from cash, a bond or anything else, by a long way.”

His research also indicated that rental income growth has still to come through in property while the number of vacant properties still remains high, but the eventual improvement in these two areas of the sector should only act as another boost for the asset class. Enable’s Independent Financial Advisors are here to talk you through a balanced portfolio approach to saving and investing so if you are planning to increase your exposure to property we are here to talk you through your options you may even want to look at how to boost liquidity and diversification through the addition of a property derivatives funds.

Issued by: Enable Independent Financial Life Planners
25c North Street, Bishops Stortford, Herts CM23 2LD
Telephone: 01279 755950 - Fax: 01279 657339
Enable Independent Financial Life Planners is a trading style of Enable Independent Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
It is important always to seek independent financial advice before making any decision regarding your finances. If you would like any assistance, please contact us.
NOTHING CONTAINED IN THE ARTICLES SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AS GIVING INDIVIDUAL FINANCIAL ADVICE

Danby Bloch: Advisers must save clients from themselves

Enable’s Independent financial Advisors of Bishops Stortford agree that, “Advisers should be emphasising to clients just how much the proposed new rules for drawing retirement benefits have made registered pensions easily the most attractive vehicles for long-term savings.” As pointed out by Danby Bloch the editorial director of Taxbriefs Financial Publishing.

In the past most of the objections to investing in registered pensions have stemmed from their inflexibility on the event of death.  The main change that has come into the spotlight this year is that people who reach the age of at least 55 will be able to draw as much or as little as they wish directly from their pension without having to buy an annuity and regardless of what clients choose, and they will still be able to receive 25 per cent of their pension savings as a tax-free lump sum.

In addition from 6 April 2015, there will be a limited ability for people in drawdown to make contributions into a money purchase pension changing the current situation, where if you start drawing funds directly from their pension, you cannot make any further pension contributions, although the limit on these contributions will be £10,000 a year rather than the full £40,000 annual allowance.

As ever one of the key job for IFA’s like Enable of Bishop’s Stortford is to inform clients about tax implications. The message Danny Bloch says is clear. “Leaving aside the question of their future income needs, they should always take tax and financial advice before deciding how much to draw from their pension. Any drawings above the tax-free lump sum will be subject to income tax as additional income. Whatever they leave in the pension plan is free of tax on any investment income and capital gains.”

If you would like some financial advice why not get in touch with our team of IFA’s.

Issued by: Enable Independent Financial Life Planners
25c North Street, Bishops Stortford, Herts CM23 2LD
Telephone: 01279 755950 - Fax: 01279 657339
Enable Independent Financial Life Planners is a trading style of Enable Independent Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
It is important always to seek independent financial advice before making any decision regarding your finances. If you would like any assistance, please contact us.
NOTHING CONTAINED IN THE ARTICLES SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AS GIVING INDIVIDUAL FINANCIAL ADVICE 

What would Labour do differently on pensions?

It’s the season of Party Politics and all this year’s conferences clearly have next year’s elections in their sights.  With such a shake up to the pension scheme this year it is hard to envisage swings back or in a different direction should we have a change of government but this is part of an Independent financial Advisors' role to keep on top of changes in legislation and how they might affect your savings and investments.

Some of the key changes the Labour Party raised with respect to pensions in their conference include  the idea that Labour would scrap the Government’s pot follows member scheme to stop the build-up of multiple small pension funds when people change jobs. As an alternative it prefers an aggregator model, where small pots are transferred to a central third-party scheme and then distributed. With respect to the Cap Charge the Department for Work and Pensions will be imposing a 0.75 per cent charge cap on all auto-enrolment schemes from next April. Labour says it would go further with a 0.5 per cent cap for schemes that wish to be eligible for transferring stranded pots.
Labour also said it would lift the £4,600 annual contribution limit and ban on transfers immediately if elected next year.

Enable of Bishop’s Stortford know that all three of the major parties will review tax relief, Labour is expected to reveal its proposals in its manifesto. Pensions minister Steve Webb, a Liberal Democrat, has proposed a new flat rate of less than 30 per cent while the Conservatives are considering further changes to the taxation of savings too.


Issued by: Enable Independent Financial Life Planners
25c North Street, Bishops Stortford, Herts CM23 2LD
Telephone: 01279 755950 - Fax: 01279 657339
Enable Independent Financial Life Planners is a trading style of Enable Independent Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
It is important always to seek independent financial advice before making any decision regarding your finances. If you would like any assistance, please contact us.
NOTHING CONTAINED IN THE ARTICLES SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AS GIVING INDIVIDUAL FINANCIAL ADVICE

Pensions & Divorce

This is a tricky area but in many cases peoples pensions are their second largest asset after their home and so they really do need to be addressed properly in any settlement process.

Since the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 brought in the option of Pension Sharing On Divorce from December 2000 what is mostly advised it to attempt a ‘clean break’ settlement for pension funds on divorce. Offsetting and earmarking will still be options to consider but a new option was introduced which allows the pension benefits to be shared or split between the parties at the time of the divorce.

Offsetting simply means that the pension funds are valued, and the spouse with greater benefits provides the other spouse with additional funds elsewhere in the settlement, to compensate them for the loss in pension rights.  Earmarking applies to all private pensions (including those in payment), but not state benefits.  It involves the court issuing an attachment order to the pension scheme. This attachment requires the scheme’s trustees to pay a proportion of the member’s benefits directly to the ex-spouse, when the benefits are taken.

Pension sharing applies to all pensions, apart from the state basic old age pension so the pension benefits are valued and the share can be granted by way of a transfer to the petitioner’s own scheme. One of the biggest problems with pension sharing is the cost. Schemes are entitled to charge for the calculations and administration involved in the splitting of the benefits. Enable’s IFA’s of Bishop’s Stortford can help talk through any of your pension issues.

Issued by: Enable Independent Financial Life Planners
25c North Street, Bishops Stortford, Herts CM23 2LD
Telephone: 01279 755950 - Fax: 01279 657339
Enable Independent Financial Life Planners is a trading style of Enable Independent Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
It is important always to seek independent financial advice before making any decision regarding your finances. If you would like any assistance, please contact us.
NOTHING CONTAINED IN THE ARTICLES SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AS GIVING INDIVIDUAL FINANCIAL ADVICE

Which? Is the one to trust...

Our reliable Independent Financial Advisors at Enable in Bishop’s Stortford can see why the executive director of Which? Richard Lloyd has suggested that the Treasury needs to “pull its finger out." He wants the government to publish details of exactly how the guidance guarantee for pensions that has been proposed will work. He was Speaking at a fringe event at the Liberal Democrat conference in Glasgow recently and thinks that the Treasury is leaving it late as the new system will be launching within months.

The new system initiated by George Osborne as part of his radical pension reforms means that all the UK population over 55s will have the right to “free, impartial, face-to-face” guidance from next April.   Richard Lloyd, who was and advisor to ex-Prime Minister Gordon Brown from 2007 to 2010, said: “The Treasury needs to pull its finger out and work out who is going to provide guidance and how, and put standards in place. “It’s getting a bit late in the day for the details to be published and all the agencies involved need to be ready. It’s becoming a bit of a problem to say the least and the Treasury needs to speed up its decision making on how the guidance guarantee will be delivered.”

At the Labour conference, the shadow pensions minister Gregg McClymont has also called for more details to be published soon. Some advisors are asking for a delay so that the plans can be clearly thought through and delivered.  If you are simply wanting some straight forward one to one discussion on the best management of your pension Enable’s IFA’s can help.

Issued by: Enable Independent Financial Life Planners
25c North Street, Bishops Stortford, Herts CM23 2LD
Telephone: 01279 755950 - Fax: 01279 657339
Enable Independent Financial Life Planners is a trading style of Enable Independent Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
It is important always to seek independent financial advice before making any decision regarding your finances. If you would like any assistance, please contact us.
NOTHING CONTAINED IN THE ARTICLES SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AS GIVING INDIVIDUAL FINANCIAL ADVICE

Watch out watch out there are pension liberation fraudsters about

Reputable Independent Financial Advisors Enable of Bishop’s Stortford have been shocked recently to read in a recent report that as many as 13 per cent of people aged over 50 have been targeted by fraudsters trying to get them to cash in their pension pots. These so called 'Pension liberation' fraudsters try to persuade people to cash in their retirement savings early, but they either charge huge fees or try to take all your money outright.  According to the poll carried out by Fidelity Worldwide Investment three out of five of those approached could see it was a scam straight away, but 27 per cent did not and a further 12 per cent were interested in the conversation and trusted the advice.

“Pension liberation” describes a way of releasing pension funds, usually before the age of 55, and converting those funds partly or entirely to cash.  The process is sometimes also known as taking a “pension loan”, such schemes are offered by companies that make money by charging you a fee or by taking cash direct from your savings, which may be as much as a third of the value of your pension pot.

The poll also found that people aged 50-59 were the most likely to be approached, as pension liberation firms try to exploit lack of knowledge of what age you have to have to access your pension lump sum and other rules. While 41 per cent of the people asked correctly replied you must be 55 or older to access a 25 per cent lump sum from your pension, the rest either gave different replies or said they didn't know. Make sure you seek advice form reputable Independent Financial Advisors.

Issued by: Enable Independent Financial Life Planners
25c North Street, Bishops Stortford, Herts CM23 2LD
Telephone: 01279 755950 - Fax: 01279 657339
Enable Independent Financial Life Planners is a trading style of Enable Independent Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
It is important always to seek independent financial advice before making any decision regarding your finances. If you would like any assistance, please contact us.
NOTHING CONTAINED IN THE ARTICLES SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AS GIVING INDIVIDUAL FINANCIAL ADVICE

Helping people be more confident with financial products

Enable’s Independent financial Advisors in Bishop’s Stortford recently saw that earlier in the autumn the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) has launched a new consumer awareness campaign.  The Campaign is using radio presenter Fearne Cotton but she is just the first of five “well-known personalities” who will take part in the campaign over the next few months. The names of the others are yet to be released.

Protecting Your Future is the name of their campaign which will run until March 2015 and it want to help reassure consumers their money is protected up to £85,000 per person if their bank were to fail.  FSCS chief executive Mark Neale says: “We know from our research that consumers who are aware of FSCS are more confident and likely to buy financial products. “The Protecting Your Future push intends to deepen engagement with the public to build awareness of FSCS. “We know that many of those consumers are not interested in financial or savings issues, so we believe that anchoring stories from a well-known personality’s perspective will not only draw consumers into the conversation, but leave a positive level of awareness that will last far longer than the campaign itself.”

Making sure you take an active interest in your financial planning and feel able to use financial products and save is clearly really important for individuals and families throughout the course of lifes ups and downs.  Enable’s IFA’s are able to talk you though your options.


Issued by: Enable Independent Financial Life Planners
25c North Street, Bishops Stortford, Herts CM23 2LD
Telephone: 01279 755950 - Fax: 01279 657339
Enable Independent Financial Life Planners is a trading style of Enable Independent Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
It is important always to seek independent financial advice before making any decision regarding your finances. If you would like any assistance, please contact us.
NOTHING CONTAINED IN THE ARTICLES SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AS GIVING INDIVIDUAL FINANCIAL ADVICE

Further Pension changes to come

George Osborne has declared that from 6th April 2015 inheritance tax will change alongside other changes to pensions. On death you will be able to pass on your pension cash without your heirs being forced to pay over half to the taxman.

Currently when a saver dies they must pay a 55 per cent tax charge to pass their drawdown fund to their loved ones.  The only exception has been for under  75 year olds who have not touched their pension. Only spouses and dependent children under the age of 23 have been able inherit their pensions without paying a tax charge.

But from next April anyone inheriting pension cash from someone who dies before the age of 75 will not have to pay any tax at all.  Those who inherit a pension from a loved one who passes away after the age of 75 will pay tax on money they withdraw at their normal rate of income tax. For many people this can be as little as 20 per cent. If they however withdraw a one off lump sum tax at 45 per cent will be levied.

It is important to remember that he shakeup applies only to savers who keep their money invested in the stock market and use their pension funds for income, using a method known as income drawdown which allows people to drawdown cash as they require it, instead of using their pension pot to buy an annuity.  If these changes are turning your financial planning upside down Enables’ IFA’s of Bishop’s Stortford are here to help you get things in order.

Issued by: Enable Independent Financial Life Planners
25c North Street, Bishops Stortford, Herts CM23 2LD
Telephone: 01279 755950 - Fax: 01279 657339
Enable Independent Financial Life Planners is a trading style of Enable Independent Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
It is important always to seek independent financial advice before making any decision regarding your finances. If you would like any assistance, please contact us.
NOTHING CONTAINED IN THE ARTICLES SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AS GIVING INDIVIDUAL FINANCIAL ADVICE