July Budget 2015: Pensions could look more like ISAs July 8, 2015 Chancellor George Osborne, as part of the emergency Budget, has announced the government will publish a green paper looking at further reform and making pensions more like ISAs. The truth is Britain isn’t saving enough and that’s something we need to fix in our economy too. While we’ve taken important steps with our new single [...]
July Budget 2015: Every key policy announced today July 8, 2015 George Osborne revealed the first Budget of the government, including policy changes on everything from pensions and inheritance tax to bank levies and the Northern Powerhouse. Here we round up all the essential points from the Red Box. 1. A surplus will be reached by 2019 Osborne pledged to reduce the deficit by [...]
July Budget 2015: Five ways your pension could change after today’s budget July 8, 2015 Substantial changes to the UK's pension rules are expected to be introduced in today's Budget. Read more: Pension changes April 2015: The five things you need to know The government has generally been loath to take away retirement perks in previous years, but this is about to change as chancellor George Osborne moves forward [...]
Five charts showing how we’re massively underestimating how much life costs, including children, house prices and pension costs July 7, 2015 You're probably really bad at estimating how much things cost – but don't worry, most of us are. As a nation we're drastically underestimating the cost of major life events such as having children, buying a house, or saving for retirement, according to a new poll by King's College and Ipsos Mori. "It’s concerning that [...]
July Budget 2015: From benefits caps and child tax credits cuts to pension and inheritance tax changes, here’s what to expect July 7, 2015 Tomorrow, George Osborne takes to the despatch box for his first truly Conservative Budget – indeed, the first majority Conservative Budget since 1996. The chancellor is notoriously good at trailing the contents of his Budgets before he stands up – so what do we know so far? Read more: Budget live – all the key announcements [...]
DWP makes fresh pension push with Theo Paphitis advertising campaign to get small business auto-enrolling workers July 6, 2015 The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) is relaunching its pensions advertising campaign starring Dragons’ Den entrepreneur Theo Paphitis in a new push to get small companies auto-enrolling staff in workplace pensions. The campaign will rework the previous creative used in 2012 when a £3.5m campaign first launched, as the government seeks to target businesses employing [...]
Former Apple exec Jeff Martin joins London smart city startup Pavegen as crowdfunding reaches £2m July 5, 2015 London-based tech startup Pavegen which creates hi-tech flooring with the potential to power cities has announced that Jeff Martin, formerly a senior executive at Apple, will join its advisory board. The news came as the firm announced it has smashed its crowdfunding target, raising nearly £2m from online investors. Martin worked with iconic Apple founder [...]
Summer Budget 2015: Is the government about to change how it taxes pensions? July 3, 2015 With the summer Budget now just days away, much of the finance sector has busied itself trying to second-guess what the chancellor will say when he takes to the despatch box. And one briefing paper, quietly published yesterday afternoon, might provide a clue: changes to pension taxation. Read more: How investment trusts can boost your [...]
Greek bailout crowdfunding campaign: Seven amazing numbers about the Indiegogo campaign to save Greece July 2, 2015 A campaign by one Londoner to crowdfund a bailout for Greece, first reported by City A.M on Monday, set the internet alight this week as the country teeters dangerously close to an exit from the Eurozone. The scheme to raise the cash needed to prevent Greece defaulting on its debts has gained astonishing attention – [...]
Debt: The alternative lending landscape July 1, 2015 Loan-based alternative finance might be victim to sloppy definitions, but it is too significant to ignore Alternative finance grew by 168 per cent in the UK last year, according to a report by Cambridge’s Judge Business School. While the oft-vaunted equity crowdfunding saw volumes totalling £83m in 2014, debt-based lending, via crowdfunding and peer-to-peer [...]