The many changes to the state pension age has caused confusion and anger among thousands of people approaching retirement over the years.  From December 2018 both men and women have, for the first time, a state pension age of 65, and now both men and women’s state pension ages will increase together.  In October 2020 the state pension increases to 66 and will gradually rise to age 67 between 2026 and 2028. 

Yes, you did count correctly – there are twelve zeroes after the two. Another month of Government borrowing above £20bn has pushed total Government debt over the £2tn level for the first time.

Where were you at the turn of the millennium? When the dot-com bubble burst? Well on Tuesday 18 August, the S&P 500 crept up by 0.23%. It was enough to bring the reading on the index to just above the previous high that it had hit nearly six months previously, on 19 February. In between those two peaks there was a fall of 33.9% to 23 March followed by a rally of 51.5%. The obvious question is why? The USA economy today is much less healthy – in all senses – than it was in February.

We are likely to borrow c.£300bn in 2020/21 on top of the current c. £1.8trn that we already owe. The huge cost of the Covid-19 measures will initially be met by borrowing, but what more can be done to repay this debt?

The public sector net borrowing requirement (PSNBR) in April 2020 is estimated to be the highest borrowing in any month since records began in January 1993. These numbers show the first impact of Covid-19 on the Government’s finances. So What is the cost likely to be? and how will the government pay for it?

While the focus has been on gyrating share indices, something interesting has been happening in the UK Government bond market.

The headlines are now turning to the future looking at how deep a recession may be and the shape of the economic recovery. We can only wonder how the economy will recover and how long it will take. Many experts talk of the ‘shape of the recovery’ using names such as V U W or L to name a few.

During this unprecedented time – we have two guides available provided by CISI that have been put together the leading financial planners in the UK to help you think about your finances.

On Friday 1 May, the Treasury announced that it would legislate to reduce the penalty to 20% between 6 March 2020 and 5 April 2021 (inclusive). The timing means that anyone who has cashed in since 6 March 2020 is due a refund.

The asset allocation or the investment mix of a portfolio is designed to meet an appropriate risk profile of an investor and typically consists of Global Equities and Global Bonds. Rebalancing a portfolio is the process of bringing the current asset allocation back into line with the original or intended asset allocation.