Article by Christina
Here’s the summer financial news from Christina Clegg your local IFA:
- Women only have 42 pence saved in their pensions in comparison to every £1 a man has saved. Giving them an average pension pot of only £39,000. That’s according to the Royal London Financial Resilience Report.
- Quilter have announced that from January 2026 all the advice firms in their network will become restricted advisers. Currently some retain their independent financial advisor status.
- In other news Quilter found that the number of over 35’s taking on long term mortgages had increased five-fold over the last five years. Taking their mortgages well beyond 70.
- An extra £2.2 billion was deposited in Cash ISAs over the last year. Mostly from people trying to get the last tax advantages ahead of concerns about the government raiding ISA savings. Up to April 2025 over £21 billion was saved in cash ISA’s.
- Please be careful over the summer as the number of scams tends to rise as people relax on holiday and let their guard down. Some things to look out for include fake accommodation listings on websites, QR code fraud, public Wi Fi scams, currency exchange scams and finally parcel delivery scams whilst you’re away.
- According to Canada Life less than 20% of over 40’s have a Lasting Power of Attorney in place. Most say that they have never thought about it, but an alarming 30% say that they don’t need one because their mental capacity is good. Kind of missing the point! This is something your local IFA can help with.
- The number of complaint cases submitted to the Financial Ombudsman Service dropped by over 6,000 last month as Claims Management Companies had to pay a new £250 fee to register a complaint. Prior to last month it was free to submit a claim.
- The Bank of England has cut the base rate to 4.0%
- That led to a 5% jump in the number of searches for mortgages online. Lots of people are on fixed term rates which will be coming to an end.
- 86% of financial advice firms don’t publish their fees on their website. That’s ridiculous. We’ve had our fees on the website from day one. It’s always better to be upfront about fees it saves everyone time.
- The number of people paying tax on dividends has jumped to 3.6 million. It was 1.8 million five years ago. This is a result of the government cutting the tax allowance from £2,000 down to only £500.
- The UK economy grew by 0.3% in the three months to June.
- The UK investment market grew by 10% last year. There are now £10 trillion worth of assets under investment management in the UK. Christina Clegg, your local IFA looks after £100 million of this. Over 50% of the assets are owned by overseas investors.
- 28% of the investments are held by retail investors. That’s the average man on the street investing over £3 trillion.
- Over £80 million was paid out in compensation to victims of pension fraud last year.
- Inflation rose again to hit 3.8% at the end of July. The highest level for 18 months and way above the government and the Bank of England target. No wonder everything seems so expensive!
Get more information.
For more information from your local IFA, why not contact Christina today. We offer a free initial meeting to discuss your requirements and explain how our service works. You are under no obligation to use us after that if you don’t want to and we won’t pester you.
So why not call us today on 01282 614444 or e mail us enquiries@ccfps.co.uk or use our contact form online.
