LATEST POSTS Low interest rates and a ‘lost decade’ in the stock market are forcing more pensioners to take higher degrees of risk to obtain an acceptable retirement income. Sales of "variable annuities" have increased by more than a third over the last year, despite experts warning of the risks involved, as pensioners shun conventional guaranteed annuities, where…Read more Banks and building societies are imposing record profit margins on mortgages, despite falling house prices and lending levels, independent statisticians claim. The biggest-ever difference between average mortgage rates and institutional money market costs or ‘swap rates’ is said to add £149 a month to homebuyers’ bills on a £150,000 mortgage. Michelle Slade, spokesman for Moneyfacts.co.uk, said… Read more What value would Britons place on personal dignity in a double dip recession? Not a very high one, if a new survey of more than 2,000 people can be believed. A quarter of them said they would lick the pavement for £400, according to the price comparison website moneysupermarket.com. This reminds me of the sign you… Read more If the Government is so desperate that it plans to cut winter fuel payments, despite thousands of deaths among old people in Britain because of cold weather each year, why are we still sending these payments to pensioners on sun-baked tropical islands? Because the European Union tells us to, is the short answer. As a result,… Read more You can see why the Government proposes to measure inflation by the Consumer Prices Index or CPI , which we are told today is rising at an annual rate of 3.1 per cent, rather than the Retail Prices Index or RPI, which is more than half as high again at 4.8 per cent. Both figures… Read more Some savers in company pensions will face tax bills of several thousand pounds on employer contributions before they draw benefits as a result of changes the Government plans to introduce next year. Precise details remain uncertain because Government consultation is still ongoing. Several accountants and other experts have set out to answer detailed questions about… Read more A little-known aspect of the tax law means Tony Blair’s donation of the £4.6m advance for his autobiography to the Royal British Legion could cost him much less than appears at first glance. As so often, the former Prime Minister is in tune with the public mood. Official figures show that charitable donations increased by 60… Read more Hungarian actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, who has asked for a priest to administer the last rites, may not have looked like a feminist but had robust views about how women should stand up for themselves financially. Zsa Zsa, 93, married nine times – mostly to very wealthy men – and distilled her wit and wisdom into…Read more Rising house prices provide the perfect antidote – if one were needed – to actress Emma Thompson’s bizarre comments about the Isle of Wight. New research by Halifax, Britain’s biggest mortgage lender, finds a strong correlation between waterfront views and buoyant property prices – and the Isle of Wight’s 55-mile coastline provides more views of…Read more Allowing yourself to become annoyed about adverts has always seemed a bit daft. Life just isn’t long enough. But I make an exception for those HM Revenue & Customs’ propaganda slots that seek to persuade us: “Tax doesn’t need to be taxing”. “Oh, yes, it does!” I groan. Along, I suspect, with most of the 10m…Finance Blog
Low rates force pensioners to take more risks for income
Are mortgage lenders 'profiteering' as house prices fall?
Would you lick the pavement for £400?
Why are we sending winter fuel payments to sun-baked tropical islands? The EU, of course
Struggling pensioners suspect CPI is the Chinese Prices Index
How tax changes will affect your pension
How Blair's charitable donation could net £1.75m tax relief
The financial wit and wisdom of Zsa Zsa Gabor
The actress, the sailors and buoyant house prices
Breaking the code: HM Revenue & Customs' tax mistakes
Sunday, 22 August 2010
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