A recent report looked at America, Australia, Switzerland Canada and Denmark. All these countries have similar freedoms in place to those in the UK. The report looked at how pensioners spent their money in those countries.
Alarmingly, if the Brits spent like the Ozzies 40% would run out of money at age 75! 10 years into retirement. Leaving for men an average further 12 years relying on the state pension alone.
In the study it was clear that the ones most affected in terms of detriment to their life styles was the middle class who were used to a better standard of living.
Because of the new “flat-rate” state pension, which comes in next year, and pensioners credit, retirees who run out of private pension savings are at low risk of falling into poverty but pensioners would be at “substantial” risk of falling below other poverty indicators, such as the “low income” threshold at 70pc of typical income.
The warnings are clear, please do not dice with your pension, if you make the wrong choices you could regret it for most of the rest of your life.
This communication is for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice, investment recommendations or investment research. You should seek advice from a professional adviser before embarking on any financial planning activity. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the information contained in this communication is correct, we are not responsible for any errors or omissions.
On Thursday the Bank of England (BOE) rate committee met to discuss interest rates, and, even though inflation is growing, yet again they have decided to leave the base rate at 0.25%. They obviously feel this is the best option as they assess the extent of any consumer slowdown and while they continue to play the waiting game regarding how the EU Brexit divorce negotiations pan out. The BOE seems to be playing a deliberate wait and see game, and with economic news continuing to be negative in the last few weeks, it now seems likely that the base rate could stay at this level until at least 2019.
It has been revealed that Harvey McGregor, the lawyer who innovated Grand Cayman as a tax planning centre for high net worth individuals, inspiring the growth of the financial services community in the Caribbean islands, has left an estate worth £1.4 million to his long-term partner.