The Informed Choice Personal Finance Blog

Build your pension by beating a retreat from the charges

"The Lifetime Account will charge a flat £35 a year". No AMC, so by my reckoning this makes it cheaper than a 1% PP or Stakeholder if you have a fund size of £3,500 or more.

However, it is limited to one fund - a mix of cash deposit, Halifax House Price Index and FTSE 100 Index.

What do you think of this interesting new product. Could it catch on and eventually replace stakeholder?

Kindest regards.
Martin

We've published a special Halloween edition of the Best Advice Personal Finance Podcast that covers the scary subject of Inheritance Tax and Estate Planning. You can download the podcast for free at www.informedchoice.ltd.uk/podcast.htm.

If you listen to the podcast this week you can also find out more about a special free offer from Informed Choice.

It was interesting to read in The Sunday Times today that a new breed of business people are starting to dominate the Sunday Times Rich List. Termed a 'sellionaire' these entrepreneurs are selling their successful businesses before taking a break from the commercial world. This goes against the traditional model of building a long-term family business.

So, you get to age 35 and have built a multi-million pound enterprise. What do you do? Sell out and live the life of your dreams or continue to build a business that will last for generations?

By Martin Bamford @ 14/10/05 - 15:11

Informed Choice Managing Director Nick Bamford is a guest on LBC Radio's Money Matters with Elliot Moss this Sunday evening (16th October 2005) at 8pm. You can hear Nick by tuning in to LBC at 97.3FM or using their online radio at www.lbc973.co.uk. You can also listen to LBC Radio using Sky Digital and DAB Radio.

By Martin Bamford @ 15/10/05 - 11:23

A number of newspapers reported yesterday that some changes to the Pension Protection Fund have been accepted which represent good news for businesses. The PPF will now reward those companies that have been making extra contributions into their pension schemes in order to reduce deficits. They will also take into account guarantees made by parent companies over the pension funds of their subsidiaries.

The Pension Protection Fund started on 6th April 2005 after being established in the Pensions Act 2004. It exists to pay compensation to members of eligible defined benefit pension schemes if a qualifying insolvency event takes place and there are insufficient assets available to meet the funding requirements of the pension scheme. You can find more information about the Pension Protection Fund at http://www.pensionprotectionfund.org.uk/.

By Martin Bamford @ 20/10/05 - 10:06

We have just uploaded our Best Advice Podcast for Thursday 20th October 2005. Informed Choice Mortgages Consultant Sarah Calvert makes her podcasting debut by discussing the options available to parents who want to help their children onto the property ladder. We also feature some clips of Nick Bamford on LBC Radio's Money Matters with Elliot Moss show last Sunday, talking about how to organise your finances.

You can listen to our podcast by visiting www.informedchoice.ltd.uk/podcast.htm.