They can’t delay having the scheme set-up and in place, otherwise the Pensions Regulator will issue the company with a £400 fine for non compliance. This rises each day that the failure continues. We want to take the headache away for company directors, so we are offering you the chance to WIN your pension scheme set-up for FREE.

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Managing your Money – October 2015

Written by Mark Jones on October 8, 2015. Posted in Insurance, Managing Your Money, Retirement Planning

When it comes to managing your money there are lot’s of things to consider, this month we look at:

A fifth of business owners feel they can’t take a day off.

New national minimum wage rates come into effect from 1 October.

Research has found that almost two thirds of adults don’t have insurance.

The majority of people under 35 have already started planning their retirement.

Managing your money

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20% OF PEOPLE TO MISS OUT ON THE NEW FULL STATE PENSION

Written by Mark Jones on September 28, 2015. Posted in Retirement, Retirement Planning, State Pension

When it comes to the new state pension, recent research as identified that:

18% of those due to retire after 6 April 2016 don’t believe they will qualify for the £155-a-week flat rate State Pension.

Nearly half of those believe they’ll miss out due to taking career breaks to raise children.

Topping up National Insurance contributions could help those who won’t reach the threshold of 35 years in employment to avoid missing out.

Nearly one in five (18 per cent) adults do not believe they will qualify for the full flat rate State Pension of £155 a week, which is due to come into effect on 6 April 2016, according to new research from Prudential.

Twenty one per cent of women believe they will miss out, compared with 14 per cent of men. This gender difference means that women think they are less likely to make the equivalent of the 35 years of National Insurance (NI) contributions needed to qualify.

Nearly half (49 per cent) of those who think they will miss out believe they will do so as a result of taking career breaks to raise children, although 20 per cent say they will not meet the target due to long-term illness.

However, for those who fail to clock-up the necessary 35 years in employment, additional years can be bought in voluntary contributions, or can be credited to those who receive Jobseeker’s Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance. People who claim child benefit for children under the age of 12, those who are unable to work through illness, and carers can also claim added years.2

The research found that only 14 per cent of adults who believe they won’t reach 35 years in employment will make voluntary additional NI contributions, to ensure they qualify for the full State Pension.

Prudential’s research was conducted among people born after 6 April 1950 and found that 27 per cent of those aged 55-plus were not aware of the State Pension reforms. This figure rises to 53 per cent, among the total adult population. There is also confusion around how much the new State Pension will be worth. On average, those surveyed believe it will be worth £125 a week, compared with the actual £155 a week, although one in nine (11 per cent) thought it would be £170 a week.