Pensions

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

Why combining pensions into a single pot can make your life easier

Combining 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 pension

A 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 pots

Automatic 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 pension

When 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 turmoil

The 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 freedoms

Next 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 up

For 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 proposals

When 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 year

Pensions 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 more

It’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...

5 December 2024

Pension Credit applications surge as Winter Fuel Payment deadline looms

Rachel 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 pot

Pensions 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 pensions

Pension 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 stampede

It 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 Budget

This 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 system

By 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 election

Green 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 crisis

Inflation 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...

19 September 2024

Are you one of the 10 million Brits with an old pension?

Brits hold 10 million pension accounts in old ‘closed book’ non-workplace pensions worth a total of £250 billion, a Freedom of Information request from AJ Bell has found.

Closed book pensions are no longer open to new customers. Although some products may still represent good value, closed book providers have limited incentive to compete on cost...

12 September 2024

Three priorities for Labour’s first Budget

The first Budget for new Chancellor Rachel Reeves is coming at the end of October. The rumour mill has already geared up with speculation on what could be included, but we’ve laid out three key areas the Government could focus on when it comes to people’s investments and savings.

ISA simplification

At a time when government is facing significant...