Will Britain lose its AAA credit rating?

Stephanie Flanders the BBC's economics editor considers the outlook for Gilts. "There's been a lot of talk about Britain losing its AAA credit rating down the road. But guess what? As far as the markets are concerned, we already have........"

The 250% tax on pension contributions

High earners with occupational pensions beware!

Ten ways to beat Alistair Darling’s big squeeze

An interesting article from The Times on Sunday.

Pre Budget Report - Pension contributions for high earners

My understanding of the latest change is that if you earn/ have income of £150k + the tax relief on contributions will be restricted if contributions exceed £20k or in certain circumstances £30k per annum. Employer pension contribution were not included in the calculation of earnings/ income.

The amendment in the PBR states that for those earning £130k + employer pension contributions will be included in calculating the £150k level.

Simple.

Annuity rates fall to record lows

See the recent article in the Financial Times. Annuity rates have fallen over the past 15 years, but are there other advantages to annuities? Click here for the article in full.

Insuring against the risk of serious illness

You are five times more likely to suffer from a life-threatening illness than you are to die before you reach 65, insurance claims statistics suggest. You might expect therefore that the risk of falling seriously ill is something that people readily address when planning their finances.

However, whilst most people have some sort of Life Insurance, far fewer address the risk and potential impact of falling seriously ill. Critical Illness Insurance Cover can offer a solution.

Typically, most clients either have or look to put in place, two forms of insurance cover:

- Life Insurance to help their dependents in the event of their death; it might replace earnings, pay off a mortgage or provide a lump sum for other use (e.g. shareholder protection).
- Income Protection to cover the risk of loss of earnings due to long term illness or disability.

We advise on whether clients have too much or too little cover or indeed whether they have the right kind of insurance cover. In many cases, we consider a third form of cover:

- Critical Illness Insurance Cover (CIC) which pays a tax-free lump sum if you are diagnosed as suffering from a life threatening condition- the most common conditions resulting in claims are cancer, stroke and heart attack.

For your free 27 page, electronic guide to Protection, giving details on these and other types of personal and business protection, please send an email to jacqueline@refp.co.uk