Advisers can prevent clients from triggering the money purchase annual allowance (MPAA) by ensuring they draw money from small pension pots of £10,000 and under, according to new analysis from Royal London. Advisers can prevent clients from triggering the money purchase annual allowance (MPAA) by ensuring they draw money from smaller pension pots, according to new analysis from Royal London. …
FCA fines Standard Life Assurance £30m over annuity sales failures
Standard Life has been fined £30.7 million by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) over failures in selling non-advised annuities. The regulator took action against Standard Life Assurance, now owned by closed-book pension provider Phoenix, over enhanced annuity sales between July 2008 and May 2016. ‘Standard Life Assurance failed to put in place adequate controls to monitor the quality of the …
HMRC’s pension freedoms over-taxation reaches £400m
HM Revenue and Customs has now over-taxed savers accessing their pensions via the pension freedoms by over £400 million, it has revealed. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has now over-taxed savers accessing their pensions via the pension freedoms by over £400 million. Current rules require providers to charge emergency tax the first time someone uses the pension freedoms to access …
FCA proposes new pension freedom rules
The FCA says it expects firms to “challenge themselves on the level of charges they impose on investment pathways” and could consider imposing a cap. The FCA is consulting on new measures to stop consumers losing out on pension income when they access their pension freedoms. The regulator has previously expressed concern about consumers moving into drawdown and holding their …
Annuity rates up 19% since Brexit nosedive
Annuity rates have increased nearly 20 per cent since hitting rock bottom two years ago, Hargreaves Lansdown analysis shows. In an update, the fund shop notes annuity rates that nosedived following the EU referendum result have risen. Rates for 65 year olds are up 19 per cent since their low on 15th September 2016. At their lowest, a 65 year …
HMRC publish latest Pension Freedom withdrawal payments
HMRC has today published its latest update on flexible payments from pensions > Official statistics can be found by clicking here. 574,000 withdrawals were made by 264,000 people in quarter 2 2018, with total withdrawals in this quarter exceeding £2.2 billion. Since pension freedoms, 3.7 million withdrawals have been made by 1 million people, totalling £17.45 billion (April 2015 – …