What is the lifetime allowance? Pension simplification came in to effect from 6th April 2006 to rationalise the British tax system in regards to pension schemes. One of the policies introduced was the lifetime allowance for all UK pensions.
Can anything help the UK pensions deficit? It seems to be going from bad to worse for the UK pension deficit. Across the 6,000 private sector defined benefit scheme pensions, 5,000 are now in deficit with roughly 1,000 close to insolvency, according to the Financial times.
The Bank of England’s decision to slash interest rates and increase the UK stimulus package to £435bn may have adverse effects to pensioners.
Pension freedoms was announced last year 6th April by George Osbourne, which gave people more flexibility to take pension pots as they wish. Rather than buying an annuity, pensioners were able to choose from a number of options including; taking a 25% lump sum, taking an annuity, accessing UFPLS or taking 100% of their pension pot as a lump sum.
Final salary pensions also known as defined benefit schemes have been the talking point over recent years due to over 75% of them being underfunded. This means they don’t have enough money to pay retirees their pensions.
A lot of you may be wondering what the tax advantages are for a QROPS if you live in Europe. The way QROPS for European residents is taxed, has just become a hell of a lot better.