Recent HMRC statistics highlight the over-taxation of some pension benefits. More than one million people have received flexible pension payments thanks to the rules introduced just over four years ago. HMRC’s most recent statistics, to the end of March 2019, show that 1,113,000 people have withdrawn over £25,600m from their pensions, across 6,136,000 payments. The amounts withdrawn and the number of payments have both increased each tax year – in 2018/19 there were over 2,4

A survey by HMRC published in May concluded that the public have a relatively poor knowledge of inheritance tax (IHT) rules and lack of confidence in what they do know. HMRC recently commissioned a survey of 947 people who had made gifts in the last two years. To assess knowledge of the IHT system among these donors, they were asked eight questions, which are shown below. Now it is your turn to try: True or False? 1 A donation to a charity or a qualifying political party can

Neil Woodford, for so long the darling and Star Fund Manager in the financial press has had a torrid week in the news following the suspension of redemptions from his investment funds. What I fail to see, is why everyone is so surprised by this story. The fund was very concentrated in a small number of UK shares, holding smaller unlisted companies with the aim of boosting the performance from the boring high-yielding stocks. This might have worked for Woodford in the past, bu

Investment platforms have been around in the UK for nearly 20 years, and after a slow start, today are used by over 90% of Financial Advisers as a simpler and more efficient way to manage clients’ portfolios. Today there are more than 30 platforms available in the UK, despite some notable big players exiting the market, AXA and American Express among them. Platforms charge clients a fee for acting as custodians; typically somewhere between 0.25% and 0.4% per annum, but the se