Pension Freedoms. There is an old adage that “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should” however, according to the Association of British Insurers,  over £3 billion has been paid out in lump- sum cash payments from British pensions. If you choose to access your pension- pot ‘as a lump sum’ then 25% of it is paid tax free which means the remaining 75% you will be paying tax at your standard marginal income tax rate. It is important to remember that, if you are still earning, then any extra pension monies you take out will be included in your total tax liabilities before working out your tax levels. In most cases to lose 20% of your pension fund or, in some cases 40%, in order to have the ‘cash in the bank’ is ill- advised, especially when pensions themselves are efficient tax- saving wrappers. This argument is enforced by the l...

We are now offering clients the ability to spread the costs of their insurance payments and locum insurance with Premium Credit Limited (http://www.premium-credit.co.uk). For25 years Premium Credit Limited has helped businesses and individuals pay for their insurance by spreading the costs over regular instalments, instead of paying the whole premium upfront. Premium Credit Limited doesn’t just help businesses and individuals spread the cost of their insurance premiums, they also provide the finance to pay annual fees such as professional fees, membership subscriptions, commercial service charges and school fees. Premium Credit Limited has 2 million customers and has achieved advances of £3.7 billion in 2013, processing 25 million Direct Debits. We are delighted therefore to work with the No.1 Insurance Premium Finance Company in the UK and Ireland. Chris Dixon BSc (Hons) Dip PFS Dire...

Often when people get married the thought of saving for a home is not far behind. As both an Independent Mortgage Broker and a Financial Advisor I am often asked about the best way to save for a new home and deposit. The government has just announced the launch of the ‘Help to Buy ISA’. This means that the government will boost your savings by 25% so for every £200 you save you will receive a government bonus of £50. The maximum amount of bonus you can receive is £3000. The ISA’s are available to each first time buyer so if you are planning to buy with your partner you could receive a government bonus of up to £6000 towards your first home! To kick start your savings you can save up to £1200 in your first month and then up to £200 per month after that. Something to note that as well as being subject to the usual ISA rules the bonus is applied by your solicitor upon purchasing...

Are you a small business or do you know a small business? We are currently working with small business’s to set up Government schemes for auto enrolement. Efficiently unleash cross-media information without cross-media value. Quickly maximize timely deliverables for real-time schemas. Dramatically maintain clicks-and-mortar solutions without functional solutions. ...

Summer Budget 2015 Today the Chancellor presented his second budget of 2015.  There were some well publicised ‘big’ picture stories but also he managed to squeeze in some big changes to the taxes that will affect most businesses:Announcing the point at which people pay tax (National Insurance has lower thresholds) from 6 April 2016 to £11,000 Cutting Corporation Tax – but you will have to wait until 2017 for that! An overhaul of the tax credits system together with changes to the Minimum wage and the Employer’s Allowance A reform of dividends including a £5,000 dividend allowance – this will feature in a future newsletter A consultation on the sustainability (withdrawal?) of tax relief on pension contributions Confirming the planned Annual Investment Allowance reduction to £25,000 in December will not go ahead and be replaced with a ...

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I read an article the other day that said that 77% of British adults have no idea of the new ISA rules that came into effect in July 2014. The changes were supposed to make ISAs more attractive to investors and simpler however there is a general feeling that the changes have not been explained well enough. Perhaps the radical changes in pensions and the Lamborghini effect has played its part in distracting us! Here is a summary of what has changed:New ISA annual allowance- the ISA allowance (the amount you can invest each tax year) has risen to £15,240. Improved flexibility- historically there were restrictions on how you could split your allowance between Cash ISAs and Stocks & Shares ISAs. Now you can split your allowance as you choose. New death benefits- investments are normally subject to Inheritance Tax (IHT) of 40%, if the total value of your estate excee...

Imagine you have just been offered a great premium for your practice’s group locum and you are just about to switch providers . Just before you do you notice something in the small print called a ‘pre-existing condition clause’. Most companies now cover themselves with a pre-existing condition clause. This usually means that regardless of who is covered if they have been off work for 5-10 days (varies on provider) for a ‘pre-existing condition’ then they are not covered for a set period of time. Now initially this doesn’t seem too bad (depending on time scales) but then let’s consider that recently a competitor has released a policy with a THREE year pre-existing condition clause! However what if you have a bunch of really healthy Doctors and Professionals who haven’t been off for the last 3 years? What does it matter then? Well it does, and it’s...

Top 5 things to look for in a good Locum Insurance policy 1.) Premium. I thought I would put the most obvious one first! Yes it is important to have a competitive premium but this should not be at the expense of the quality of cover especially as there are some policies out there we would NOT recommend as an independent advice company. The best way to find out if your premium is competitive is to get several premiums from different companies or go to an Independent Financial Advisor like ourselves. 2.) Permanency of cover. Some policies claim to be ‘Permanent’ or claim to have ‘Continuation Options’. The main point here is there should be a clause within the agreement that states clearly that if a claim is made on the policy then that individual can still be insured at renewal. The terms and conditions for this vary from policy to policy so it is extremely i...

The Annual Allowance, set by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), is the maximum amount of pension savings you can receive tax relief on each year. HMRC reduced the Annual Allowance from £255,000 to £50,000 from 6 April 2011, with the result that the total tax-free growth in the value of your NHS benefits and other pension arrangements you may have is capped at £50,000. If the growth in your pension savings is more than the Annual Allowance then a tax charge may be payable on the amount over £50,000. This is the Annual Allowance charge. The Annual Allowance charge is worked out by calculating the difference between the value of your NHS benefits at the start of the pension input period (the opening value) compared with the value of your NHS benefits at the end of the pension input period (the closing value). To find the opening value we calculate your NHS benefits to the day before t...