🔔 Press Review: Savings Roundup (week commencing 14 July 2018)

The worry is that with all the activity around pension freedoms and final salary pensions (also known as defined benefit schemes), many people need advice in this area. But as ever, where there is a genuine need, there are also scammers looking to make a fast buck at your expense. According to an article in The Times, savers lost more than £51million to fraudsters in just the first three months of this tax year – more then double the amount stolen in the same period in 2016/17.

There are moves being made to help, albeit too slowly. The Economic Secretary to the Treasury has announced that pension cold calling could finally be banned in 2019. But while that might protect some, especially the more vulnerable, where do those that should seek advice go?

As you know, we would always advocate a Chartered Independent Financial Adviser and with regard to advice on transferring a final salary scheme, you need to find an adviser who is authorised to carry out this very specialised advice.

If you need help with pensions or investment advice, while we don't provide advice ourselves, call Claire or Leighton on 0800 011 9705, who can help you find the best person to speak to.

There was an interesting update to the Virgin Money and CYBG deal in The Sunday Telegraph. Apparently, the Bank of England upgraded Virgin Money’s core capital ratio by around 16% earlier this month.  This means that Virgin is considered to have greater resilience than previously reported and, as a result, investors could pressurise CYGB to improve the terms of the venture. Whether any change will come about is still to be seen – as an agreement had already been reached ahead of the Bank of England’s update.

CPI Inflation remained at 2.4% in June, according to ONS figures released this week. This was a surprise for many who were expecting to see an increase to 2.60%, especially anyone who drives a car, who will have felt the effects of higher fuel prices all too clearly. But, this was offset by falling prices for clothes and games.

But, what does this mean for the MPC meeting on 2nd August? Well, once again this could mean a delay to the long-awaited base rate rise, especially as wage growth data also emerged as weaker than expected.  

However, there are still some savings accounts available that match or beat inflation, so all is not lost, especially if ongoing competition continues to drive best buy rates upwards regardless.

At the same time, according to a report by Deloitte, consumer confidence has risen to its highest level in seven years – buoyed by the royal wedding, the World Cup and the beautiful weather. The Times states that the report shows UK consumers are increasingly confident in job security, job opportunities and career progression. Why is this important? 

Well the more confident we are, the more likely we are to spend money and that’s good for the economy.

The Sunday Times this week exposed that old-fashioned processes to switch ISAs can cause unnecessary delays. Wet signatures and funds being transferred by cheque are still often part of the ISA transfer process and lost paperwork and cheques can often lead to additional administration and delays. 

But that shouldn’t stop you from transferring if you are in poor paying cash ISA, as the transfer should still be done within 15 working days and it can make a big difference to the tax-free interest you earn going forward.

NS&I Direct ISA savers should take particular note, as it was announced this week that the rate on this account will be slashed from 1% to 0.75% in September. The good news is that there are plenty of better rates available which accept transfers. Check out our variable rate cash ISA and fixed rate cash ISA best buy tables to see how you could earn more valuable tax-free interest.