Brexit would prompt need for expat financial advice

Today’s long term savers face many challenges. At Blacktower, we want to help you through all financial planning adversity, whether you need advice on regular savings in Grand Cayman or help with inheritance tax planning in France.

One major savings goal that many parents wish to work towards is having enough money to send their children on to higher education. This goal became harder to attain when university tuition fees were increased back in 2012, some by as much as three times. Now, a new proposal may further shake things up in terms of how much money parents will need to save.

HSBC and The Local Government Pension Scheme are the latest Defined Benefit Pension Schemes to cause upset and worry to thousands of soon-to-be retirees.

Firstly, HSBC has come under fire for cutting the pension payouts of its former staff by up to £2,500 a year, affecting 50,000 members who joined the company between 1975 and 1996. This group had opted to pay less national insurance (NI) contributions whilst working by “contracting out” of the former state pension scheme. This meant that HSBC also paid less NI contributions. In exchange for paying a lower rate, the bank agreed to pay staff a guaranteed minimum pension when they came to retire. Payment records were however not properly maintained leading pensioners to be either overpaid or underpaid. Numerous firms, including HSBC, had used this arrangement and when the errors were discovered, some began to cut pension payouts to compensate for the overpayment.