Mortgage brokers are trying to persuade lenders to offer ‘divorce mortgage’s for couples splitting up in their fifties, says the Telegraph (Mortgage brokers).
The over-50s account for the fastest increase in UK divorces and over a quarter of them have to sell their properties when they split up. Usually they have equity in their homes but neither partner can afford to buy the other out. Moreover, under current ‘affordability’ rules, most lenders will not lend them the amount they need to do so. The plan is for ‘divorce mortgages’ to have a relatively short term, giving the ‘stay in home’ partner time to accumulate the cash or to decide to sell and move on, say when children change schools.
Profiting from a change of tune
The chief economist of the Bank of England admitted that he couldn’t make any sense of pensions, prompting the Mail and many other newspapers to question how we got into this mess. But he pointed to the fact that over time, the risk of pensions has been shifted from employers to individuals and that this is a major issue that has not been properly addressed.
What a pension’s worth
The State pension is worth a staggeringly large amount of money, says the Mail. To buy a lifetime income equal to the new flat-rate State pension in the open market would cost between £240,000 and £260,000. The cost is so high because of rising life expectancy, low interest rates and the fact that the state pension is inflation-proof. Research shows the average private pension pot for people in work is about £49,000, so that if – as many people do – you want an income of double the state pension in retirement, you will need at least £250,000 in your pension fund and may well need to save more to accumulate it.
Higher and higher
The number of people paying higher rate income tax in the UK has topped 5 million, says the Financial Times. Analysis of data from HMRC shows that 23 million people in the UK pay no income tax; just over 30 million do pay tax, and a sixth of them pay higher rate tax. The top 10% of earners (with personal incomes over £54,300) receive a third of total income but pay three-fifths of all income tax. This trend to a smaller number of people paying a larger share of the total tax bill has been going on for some time. And there is also marked trend in older people paying more tax: in 2010-11 4.9 million people aged over 65 were taxpayers, but by 2015-16 their number had risen to 5.9 million.
Mortgage Broker and Financial Advice Bristol
If you would like to speak with one of our Independent Financial Advisors and potentially receive financial advice, please contact us on 0117 923 7652. We are based in Clifton, Bristol but we are happy to service clients from across the UK and we provide free initial meetings at our client’s convenience.
Churchill Wealth Management Limited is located at 13 Alma Vale Rd, Bristol BS8 2HL, United Kingdom.
About Us: Churchill Wealth Management is a team of independent financial advisors/financial advisers (IFAs) based in Clifton, Bristol. We provide independent financial advice, including pension advice, investment advice, inheritance tax planning and protection/insurance advice.