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Why are our pensions in crisis?

Huge deficits mean around 600 pension funds are certain to collapse in the next decade, according to the Pensions Institute at Cass Business School. It says another 400 are also at risk. These funds have combined deficits of around £45 billion, a figure which could potentially overwhelm the PPF rescue fund.

Britain’s blue chips are dishing out billions more in dividends to shareholders despite a crisis in their pension funds. One investment group analysis shows that 54 companies in the FTSE 100 index have handed out £48billion to investors in the last two years despite having a £52 billion pension black hole.

Another commentator said that insufficient contributions to pension funds could leave companies with hefty liabilities which could drag on future performance and, ultimately, lead to staff receiving lower pensions if the business runs in to difficulties and enters administration.

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.

Other News

Priming a young generation of savers to invest

A quarter of UK adults have less than £100 put away and one in six adults have no savings, according to the Money & Pensions Service (MaPS). If adults fail to routinely tuck away funds for a rainy day or have little in the way of investment funds, youngsters with an appetite for investing will need […]

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The ‘wheres’ and the whys of UK expats in Europe

As we hurtle towards the EU referendum and are being deluged with information about the whys and wherefores of Brexit or Bremain, Blacktower takes a look at what matters to us: the UK expats whose futures, whatever the outcome of the vote, are very much determined by the quality of their expat financial advice.

Just how many British expats are there in Europe?

Well, data published by the Office of National Statistics shows – although not completely reliably, we feel – that there are around 1.2 million British expats within the EU (some estimates put this figure as high as 2 million).

The vast majority of these live in tried, tested and sun-drenched destinations such as Spain and France. But before you start thinking that expats just move away purely in search of a sunnier climate, think again; the third most popular destination is Ireland (150 days of rainfall a year compared to the UK’s 133).

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