Friday, January 8th, 2010

As the government rebrands its personal pensions scheme as NEST (National Employment Savings Trust), industry experts are warning savers not to wait for the new workplace pension scheme, which will not be fully operational until 2017.
Tags: AIB Bank, Co-Operative Bank, Commercial Loans, Company Pension Scheme, Company Pensions, Mortgage, Mortgage Advice, Mortgage Insurance, National Employment Savings Trust, NEST, Occupational Pensions, Personal Accounts, Personal Accounts Scheme, Personal Pensions, Spanish Investment
Posted in Pensions News | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

Flaws in the government’s planned ‘Personal Account’ pension scheme have been highlighted by new quality standards for company or occupational pension schemesfrom the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF).
Tags: AIB Bank, Commercial Loans, Company Pensions, IBM, Kellogg's, Low Interest Rates, Marks & Spencer, Mortgage, Mortgage Advice, Mortgage Insurance, National Association of Pension Funds NAPF, Occupational Pensions, Pension Funds, Pension Quality Mark, Personal Accounts, Personal Accounts Scheme, Personal Pensions, Spanish Investment, Standard Life, UK Investments, Wealth Management
Posted in Pensions News | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009

Consumers feel confused and daunted by the prospect of comparing products, when shopping around for mortgages and personal pensions, according to a new survey published this week by the retail industry watchdog Consumer Choice.
Tags: Consumer Choice, Friends of the Earth, Independent Financial Advice, Independent Mortgage Advice, Investment Bond, Investment Funds, Investment Strategy, MetLife, Mortgage Advice, Mortgage Deals, Mortgage Insurance, Mortgage Rates, Mortgages, Pensions and Retirement, Personal Pensions, Private Pensions, Repossessed Spanish Property, Stockholm Environment Institute, Writing a Will
Posted in Financial Planning News | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009
Good mortgage advice will make the mortgage market a safer place to be for consumers, even if that means encouraging homebuyers to be a little more ‘rational’ with regard to what they can afford, according to the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
Tags: Equifax, Experian, Financial Services Authority, FSA, Investment Advice Northern Ireland, Investment Bond, Investment Calculator, Investment Strategy, Mortgage, Mortgage Advice, Mortgage Affordability, Mortgages, Pension Advice Northern Ireland, Retirement, Self-Cert Mortgages
Posted in Mortgage News | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009
One-tenth of homebuyers in the UK who purchased their home from an estate agent felt pressured into arranging their mortgage via the estate agent as well, according to newly-published data from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT)*.
While mortgage referrals earn lucrative commissions for estate agents, their in-house mortgage advisers typically deal with a limited panel of selected mortgage lenders.
Tags: Best Mortgage Deal, Budget June 2010, Friends of the Earth, Independent Financial Advice, Independent Mortgage Advice, Investment Bond, Investment Strategy, Mortgage Advice, Mortgages, Retirement, Stockholm Environment Institute
Posted in Mortgage News | No Comments »
Thursday, November 26th, 2009
Smaller employers with past experience of successfully implementing legislative changes in the workplace have named external advice as the key ingredient of a smooth transition.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has published a survey of 28 companies with 1-49 employees, which have gone through the process of implementing change in the past.
Tags: AIB Bank, Co-Operative Bank, Company Pension Scheme, Department for Work and Pensions, DWP, Mortgage, Mortgage Advice, Mortgage Insurance, Office of Fair Trading, Personal Accounts, Personal Accounts Scheme, Personal Pensions, Retirement Planning, UK Stockbrokers, UK Sustainable Investment & Finance Association
Posted in Pensions News | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
The need to take whole of market mortgage advice with access to all mortgage products on the market has been emphasised yet again this month.
Tags: Affordable Mortgage Deal, Best Mortgage Deal, Budget June 2010, Financial Planning Review, Home Mortgage, Independent Mortgage Advice, Investment Bond, Investment Calculator, Mortgage Advice, Mortgage Affordability, Retirement, Stock Market Investments, Stockbroker Adviser, Stockholm Environment Institute, Whole of Market Mortgage Advice
Posted in Mortgage News | No Comments »
Friday, November 20th, 2009
Lenders are taking action to boost the home mortgage market for first time buyers, in order to maintain the current level of house purchases when the stamp duty exemption is cut back in January.
Financial advisers can now offer 85% and even 90% mortgages that will make homebuying easier for first-timers who could not afford the 25% mortgage deposits required to access the best deals over the past year.
Tags: Best Mortgage Deal, Budget June 2010, Equity Release, Estate Planning, Ethical Investment Funds, Ethical Investment Portfolio, Financial Planning Review, First Time Buyer, First Time Buyer Mortgage, First Time Buyer Mortgages, First Time Mortgage, Friends of the Earth, Home Mortgage, Independent Financial Advice, Investment Bond, Mortgage Advice, Retirement
Posted in Mortgage News | No Comments »
Friday, November 6th, 2009
Mortgage-seekers and first time buyers looking at a property worth up to £175,000 should act immediately to avoid stamp duty under the current government exemption. While properties valued up to £175,000 are not subject to stamp duty at the moment, the threshold is to be revised and possibly cut on 1st January 2010, as a cash-strapped Chancellor of [...]
Tags: Financial Life Cycle, Halifax, Investment Bond, Investment Strategy, Mortgage Advice, Mortgages, Pension Planning, Pension Transfers, Retirement, SIPPS, Stamp Duty, Stamp Duty Threshold, Tax
Posted in Mortgage News | No Comments »
Thursday, November 5th, 2009
Radical changes in the pensions sector mean that the reality of retirement in 2030 will be very different from the present day – and unrecognisable, compared to the relatively generous pensions climate of past decades. However, with over half the nation not saving towards a pension at all (source: Halifax), most people seem unaware that [...]
Tags: AIB Bank, Basic State Pension, Best UK ISA Funds, Commercial Loans, Company Pensions, LV=, Mortgage, Mortgage Advice, Mortgage Deposit, Office of Fair Trading, Pension Planning, Personal Accounts, Personal Accounts Scheme, Personal Pension, Retirement Planning
Posted in Pensions News | No Comments »