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Mar 07
On 6 April 2010, new rules on qualifying for the full state pension will kick in.
Currently, women need to have worked 39 years to clock up enough National Insurance contributions to be entitled to the full state pension and men for 44 years. However, a change in the rules on 6 April this year will see both dropped to 30 years. (more…)
Feb 20
More than two thirds of Brits who headed off to Europe for a life in the sun are returning to the UK.
UK foreign exchange experts Moneycorp have recently reported that 70% of Brits who moved to mainland Europe are now considering coming home because as the value of the Pound has plunged, so has their ability to afford mortgage payments and general living costs. Some 74% of those ex-pats living in Spain alone intend to return to the UK, according to the survey. (more…)
Feb 19
Award winning Equity Release Specialists Bower Retirement Services has recently appointed Angela Beeton as its new Business Relationship Manager.
Angela, previously an IFA specialising in Equity Release and Long Term Care and before that a Cheltenham and Gloucester Bank Manager, is ardent about Equity Release and the good that it does. (more…)
Feb 19
A recent Prudential survey says that women retiring this year will be living on an average pension of £234 a week, which falls two-thirds short of that of their male counterparts.
This figure has dropped by 11% on that produced by the same survey last year, whilst the figure for men has only dropped by 3%. (more…)
Feb 13
Huge numbers of people approaching retirement age – millions in fact – are heading for a worrying mix of hefty mortgages with no savings.
A report by Aviva found that 25% of ‘pre-retirees’ – those aged between 55 and 64 – have a mortgage and in 20% of those cases it exceeds £75,000. The report, which came from a study of over 1200 people, stated that 40% of pre-retirees have average savings of only £8,600, excluding pensions, and that this sum could easily be swallowed up should a household emergency occur. (more…)
Jan 30
Recent research by Prudential has uncovered that 18% of people set to retire in 2010 will do so without any personal pension.
This year’s retirees could be in for a shock however, as many of those surveyed were unaware of the value of the basic state pension. 31% either did not know what they would get, or overestimated the amount by around £25 per week. (more…)
Jan 25
Recent research carried out by Liverpool Victoria (LV=) has found that over a million Britons aged 50 plus plan to take advantage of the rising value of their property to help fund their retirement. (more…)
Jan 17
Fed up homeowners stranded at home whilst the snow continues to fall will more than likely be dreaming of jetting off to sunnier climes; but with finances being stretched to the limit many have little chance of getting away this winter, or even this year. (more…)
Jan 08
Independent equity release specialists Bower Retirement Services are seeing their commitment to exceptional client care and in-depth advice rewarded through being featured in case studies used by leading equity release provider LV=, to promote the benefits of their range of equity release plans. (more…)
Jan 02
Perhaps one of the very few almost positive things to come out of the Pre-Budget Report was the April 2010 state pension rise which sees an increase of 2.5% in the rate from £95.25 to £97.65 for a single pensioner and from £152.30 to £156.16 for couples. (more…)
Dec 31
A new Which? report has suggested that energy bills for poorly insulated homes could rise by 35% by 2020.
Combine this with the recent announcement that some 50% will be shaved off the Government’s Warm Front grants which are offered to pensioners and those on benefits to help them insulate their homes and modernise their heating systems, and surely it’s a recipe for disaster? (more…)
Dec 18
The budget for the Warm Front scheme which offers grants for home energy efficiency upgrades is set to be slashed by almost 50% from £369 million to £195 million over the next two years and waiting times for the grants will increase from the current 50 days to six months. (more…)
