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Pension freedom or Pension Nightmare

Ever since the UK chancellor announced he was going to allow pension freedom on UK private pensions from April 2015 the papers have had articles galore on what you can spend your money on, then some started to focus on the fact that there was a nasty sting in the tale for many people who cash in their pension and that was TAX. Now the time is nearly upon us the main concern seems to be the number of scammers and fraudsters that are after your money.  

Offshore Is Dead; Long Live Onshore

On Monday, the Guardian, the BBC, Le Monde and 50 other media outlets reveal that HSBC’s Swiss banking arm helped wealthy customers dodge taxes and conceal millions of dollars of assets, doling out bundles of untraceable cash and advising clients on how to circumvent domestic tax authorities. The HSBC files consist of thousands of pages made available via the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Covering the period 2005-07, they amount to the biggest banking leak in history, shedding light on some 30,000 accounts holding almost $120bn (£78bn) of assets. Many of the accounts allegedly belonged to prominent figures in business, film, music and sport, to name a few.

I Have Retired; Time To Move Abroad

 

I’ve spent the last 40 years working and saving – so what’s next? Should I remain in the UK or consider pastures new? Well someone once said, “The grass is not any greener on the other side” – but what if it was?

Expats may be able to benefit from generous tax legislation in some popular retirement destinations if they decide to make use of new flexible pension rules.

Changes from April 6 will allow those, remaining in the UK and over 55, to withdraw all the money from their scheme, with 25pc as a potentially tax-free lump sum. Alternatively, they can withdraw it in chunks with 25pc tax-free and the remainder taxed at their marginal rate. 

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