FROM THE PAPERS
Synopsis: Short summaries of articles we think you will find useful from some of the weekends broadsheets. At the end of each summary is a link to take you directly to the relevant article. Please see Helpful Hints at the end of the bulletin.
Financial Times:” Investors to launch class action against watchdog”. Investors in a suspended ‘death bond’ fund are preparing to launch a class action against the City regulator, arguing that a 2011 statement labelling the products as ‘toxic’ led to a run on the asset class. Click here to go directly to the article
Financial Times:” Discretionary managers urged to reveal charges”. Discretionary fund managers are failing to disclose details of their fees and holdings which ought to be crucial to financial advisers’ decision-making, according to a new report.
Click here to go directly to the article
Financial Times:” Providers warn over pension deadline”. Britain’s multibillion pound pension industry has warned it will be a challenge for providers to comply with new consumer safeguards being rushed in to protect savers accessing their pension pots under new freedoms. Click here to go directly to the article
Financial Times:” Ministers water down ‘final salary’ safeguards”. The government is to water down a proposed safeguard designed to protect workers giving up small final salary pensions to take advantage of new pension freedoms. Click here to go directly to the article
Financial Times:” Use of trusts continues to decline”. The number of trusts has continued to fall, as reforms to the UK tax regime over recent years have undermined their attraction to wealthy families. Click here to go directly to the article
Financial Times:” HMRC digital transformation ‘too slow'”. The UK tax authority’s push to move services online has received a mixed reception, with tax professionals’ enthusiasm for greater accuracy and transparency offset by concerns about accessibility and the pace of progress. Click here to go directly to the article
The Times:” Younger workers face pension’s time bomb “. April could herald a brave new world for pensions as new rules make it easier for retirees to opt for alternatives to low-return annuities, or it could prompt mass confusion as retirees struggle to make the right decision without adequate advice.
Click here to go directly to the article
The Times:” Families crippled by elderly care could save thousands under plans for new Isa “. Families will be able to save tens of thousands of pounds tax-free to help with the cost of their old-age care under a plan being considered by ministers.
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The Times:” Building a tax-free nest egg for beginners”. It’s that time of year again — Isa season has begun. Deposits into Isa accounts peak in the months between January and April each year as we all make a mad dash to use our annual allowance. If you haven’t opened an Isa this tax year, read on to find out everything you need to know to make the best decision.
Click here to go directly to the article
The Times:” Too young for pensioner bonds? Try these”. The new pensioner bonds from National Savings & Investments, which offer interest rates of up to 4 per cent for savers aged 65-plus, have proved hugely popular. However, one of the biggest problems, besides their chaotic launch, limited availability and age criteria, is that they don’t pay a regular income.
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The Times:” 50p tax rate revenue £1bn below forecast “. The 50p tax rate raised £1.3 billion less revenue in 2013 than initial estimates indicated, new figures have revealed.
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The Telegraph:” Pension errors: the scandal widens”. More insurers have admitted to basic errors that have left pensioners out of pocket, the Telegraph can disclose
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The Telegraph:” Do you really need to fill in a self-assessment tax form?” Taxpayers who owe less than £3,000 in tax and filed returns may not have needed to do so
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The Telegraph:” Five reasons not to retire in April (when thousands of others will)”. Older savers are gearing up for the new pension freedoms coming in April, but there are some good reasons why leaving your retirement fund alone for the time being is a smart move
Click here to go directly to the article
The Telegraph:” Pensioner hit with £4.7bn tax bill – in error “. ‘They must think I’m a footballer or something’, says pensioner asked to pay five £950 million instalments to foot tax bill made in error
Click here to go directly to the article
HELPFUL HINTS
1. LINKS TO ARTICLES:
We have now provided direct links to the articles referred to in the article. These can be accessed by click on the “To go directly to the article click here” at the end of each article summary
2. REQUIREMENT TO SUBSCRIBE TO SITES:
As some Opus Gold users will be aware, many of the broadsheet newspapers that are traditionally covered in our From the Papers bulletin, are changing (or have changed) their free online access to articles.
Currently the Financial Times and Weekend Financial Times only allows access to view 8 articles a month free, then requiring the user to subscribe to their online service. From 1 July 2010 The Times, Saturday Times and Sunday Times articles are no longer available for free online. Instead a daily or monthly fee will have to be paid to access the articles.
We are aware of the inconvenience this will cause to our users. Unfortunately, due to the stringent copyright rules enforced by the newspapers we are not allowed to copy the articles onto our bulletin to make them available to Opus Gold users, thusour only option is to put a direct link to the article on the newspapers own website.
Although we will continue to produce From the Papers bulletins linking to these articles, users should be aware that access to many will now be blocked unless a personal subscription to the newspapers site is taken.
Once again we apologise for this inconvenience but this is something outside of our control.
QUICK LINKS
FINANCIAL TIMES, TIMES + SUNDAY TIMES, TELEGRAPH + SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, GUARDIAN + GUARDIAN WEEKLY +MONEY OBSERVER + OBSERVER, INDEPENDENT + INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY, SCOTSMAN + SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY +EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS, DAILY MAIL + MAIL ON SUNDAY + (LONDON) EVENING STANDARD + THIS IS MONEY.
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