20 May 2025
Could you have £959,729 in lost pensions?There are 3.3 million lost pension pots, according to the Pensions Policy Institute, as people have moved jobs, lost paperwork or forgotten their pension existed. But what if you had 11 missing pension pots you could track down, or a pension worth £959,729 sitting there waiting to be found?
That’s what some people discovered when using our pension...
20 May 2025
Four ways to build a pension and keep your retirement savings strategy on trackIt’s never too early to plan for the cost of retirement and the amount of money you need to save. Even if you’re 20 or 30 years away from giving up work, the sooner you get your strategy in place, the easier it might be to squirrel away money so you can enjoy your golden years without financial stress.
In the future you’ll look back and be thankful...
20 May 2025
Am I saving enough for retirement?Determining how much you need to save for retirement in your pension can be a tricky calculation because it involves a lot of unknowns.
Just 18% of people have a figure for how much they believe they will need for retirement, and only 20% are confident they are saving enough, according to the Pension & Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA).
By...
20 May 2025
Five ways combining pensions can boost your retirement potIf you’ve moved between different jobs over time, you’ll probably have built up pensions in a few different places. Getting them in one place not only helps you remove a whole heap of hassle, but it can also boost your retirement pot.
Here are five benefits of combining your pensions.
1. Easier managementOne pot means it’s far easier to keep an...
20 May 2025
Why combining pensions into a single pot can make your life easierCombining different pensions into a single pot is a helpful way to make your path to retirement clear and simple, while possibly saving you money along the way.
Throughout your career, you may have accumulated a collection of workplace pensions that can all help towards your retirement goals. But when these investments aren’t in one place...
16 May 2025
One third of adults have less than £10,000 in their pensionA large chunk of the UK population is setting themselves up for a nasty shock later in life by not putting enough money away for the future.
The newly published Financial Lives survey by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), a financial regulator, implies that certain people will be too reliant on the state pension to pay the bills and support...
29 April 2025
Government to press ahead with plans to consolidate small pension potsAutomatic enrolment is one of the big public policy success stories of our time. But it’s not without its flaws. People start a pension when they join an employer, but when they switch employer, they often leave their old pension behind, neglected and unloved. This has created a plethora of small pension pots which are easily forgotten.
Confirmatio...
16 April 2025
How market drops could affect your pensionWhen markets fall, a simple solution for most pension investors can be to ride it out. Historically, prices have recovered, and if your plans for retirement are still far away you likely have time to wait.
But when you’re in the final years before retiring or have already retired and started accessing your pension, a tumble in your investments can...
9 April 2025
Why savers and retirees shouldn’t panic in the face of Trump tariffs turmoilThe US President’s actions over the last week haven’t exactly been calming for global stock markets, with huge falls recorded across indices from the Dow Jones to the Hang Seng and the FTSE in the UK. This instability can be deeply unsettling for savers and retirees, who may log in to their pension and see a big fall in the value of their fund. But...
28 March 2025
Navigating a decade of pension freedomsNext month we will be lighting the candles on the cake celebrating 10 years of pension freedoms. George Osborne’s 2014 Budget bombshell was a dramatic initiative which ripped up the rulebook on annuities and gave people more control over how they access their pension savings.
In the biggest pensions shake-up in a generation, government relaxed some...
21 March 2025
Pensions in the spotlight as UK life expectancy ticks upFor decades it was taken as a given that life expectancy would continue increasing for each generation. However, even prior to the pandemic, life expectancy improvements had ground to a halt. Despite a very marginal improvement in 2021-2023, average lifespans have still not recovered to pre-pandemic levels.
Life expectancy trends are important to...
18 February 2025
Are you one of the 20 million people with a lost pension?There has been a boom in the number of small pension pots in the UK, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has found. There were around 20 million defined contribution pension pots valued under £10,000 in 2023 which are no longer being topped up and are worth a total of almost £30 billion, according to an IFS report.
The think tank claims over...
6 February 2025
Should you top up your National Insurance record before the deadline hits?The deadline for people to plug National Insurance gaps in their records is closing in, with only two months left for those with gaps going back to 2006 to make voluntary contributions to boost their state pension entitlement.
Anyone with less than 35 qualifying years of National Insurance can pay voluntary National Insurance contributions as a way...
24 January 2025
AJ Bell urges government to rethink inheritance tax on pension proposalsWhen the government first set out its plans to bring pensions into inheritance tax (IHT) at the Autumn Budget, it became apparent to many in the industry that its initial proposals were unworkable. Not only do they threaten to create delays and complexity, leading to financial gridlock in the probate process, but in many cases could lead to...
17 December 2024
Five ways to get your pension savings on track this yearPensions aren’t always at the top of our priorities after a busy Christmas, but these five quick and simple checks can get your pots in shape for the coming year.
1. See if you can save moreIt’s easy to simply say people should pay in more, but if you can afford to put a little extra towards your retirement, pensions offer great tax perks in...
10 December 2024
SIPPs explainedTom Selby, Director of Public Policy, gives an overview of Self Invested Personal Pensions (SIPPs). He discusses how SIPPs differ from other pensions, what investment options are available and how you can access your money in retirement.
5 December 2024
Pension Credit applications surge as Winter Fuel Payment deadline loomsRachel Reeves’ decision to means-test the Winter Fuel Payment has caused fury among retirees and campaigners with the benefit, worth up to £300, now only available to low-income pensioners who qualify for Pension Credit top-ups.
Pension Credit has historically been chronically underclaimed, with over a third of households who could be eligible...
27 November 2024
Three tips to get the most from your pension potPensions come with generous tax perks to help you save for retirement, but people sometimes make mistakes that could lose them extra money in their pot.
1) Keep track of your pensionsPension admin can easily slip down a growing to-do list but checking in on your pension (or pensions) could end up saving you hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds in...
7 November 2024
First UK pension scheme dives into Bitcoin, but don’t expect a stampedeIt was only a matter of time before a UK pension scheme bought into Bitcoin, but this isn’t likely to spark a stampede into the asset class.
Bitcoin is notoriously volatile, and pension scheme trustees are just as notoriously risk averse. Why wouldn’t you be when you’re looking after someone else’s retirement savings?
The FCA says those investing...
31 October 2024
Four key changes from the BudgetThis week saw the first Budget from Labour since they came into power in July. There was lots of speculation ahead of the announcements about what would happen, and it ended up being one of the biggest tax-raising Budgets in recent history. But a lot of those additional taxes will come from businesses rather than directly from individuals.
Here we...
30 October 2024
Value of lost pensions hits £31 billion – should you combine your pots?The total value of ‘lost’ pension pots has hit £31.1 billion increased by £4.5 billion, new data published by the Pensions Policy Institute reveals*, having risen from £26.6 billion in 2022. Almost 3.3 million pension pots are now considered lost, containing an average sum of £9,470. This rises to £13,620 per pension among people aged 55 to 75.
...
18 October 2024
AJ Bell CEO: It’s time for the government to stop fiddling with the pensions systemBy Michael Summersgill, Chief Executive of AJ Bell
The Budget presents a perfect opportunity for the Chancellor to commit to a long-term Pensions Tax Lock, guaranteeing stability in pension taxation for at least this parliament.
Aspirational workers who set money aside decades before retirement, taking responsibility for providing for themselves...
17 October 2024
Kamala Harris vs Donald Trump: the potential winners and losers for investors and markets on the outcome of the US presidential electionGreen energy and technology are the key industries to watch if Kamala Harris wins the US presidential election, while defence contractors, oil and gas producers and cryptocurrencies will be front of stage if Donald Trump is victorious.
Unlike the UK general election where Labour had such a wide lead in the polls from the start and which made it...
2 October 2024
Can I inherit my late father’s pension, and will I owe inheritance tax?Can you explain how Inheritance Tax (IHT) will impact my pensions? My father worked for the NHS for 35 years and recently passed away – will I inherit anything from this pension? He also had a small defined contribution pension. And what could happen to at the Budget in relation to pensions and IHT? I’ve tried to do my own research but it’s...
1 October 2024
Pension withdrawals jump to £52 billion in cost-of-living crisisInflation may have returned closer to ‘normal’ levels in recent months, but three years of spiking prices and rising interest rates has had a huge impact on Brits’ retirement plans, with both the number of people accessing their pension and the amount withdrawn surging in the 2023/24 tax year.
Savers withdrew over £52 billion from their retirement...
