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Our Blog

Here you can find the latest industry views and commentary from Torquil Clark's range of wealth management and employee benefits experts.

Recent posts

  • 2013 Budget Summary

    This afternoon Chancellor George Osborne has presented his 2013 Budget to the House of Commons and the awaiting nation. Recent Budgets have seen savers hit hard; annual pension ...
  • End Of Tax Year Planning

    In the run up to the end of the tax year, it’s important that you consider all the tax relief/exemptions and allowances that the Government offers. Remember, many of these will ...
  • Chancellor's Autumn Statement Summary

    Here's a summary of the changes announced in the Chancellor's recent Autumn Statement. CHANGES TO PENSION LIMITS Contributions The Annual Allowance in 2014/15 will be £40,000 having reduced ...
  • Pension Matters September 2012

    Welcome to Pension Matters, produced by Torquil Clark. Every month I will update you on the latest legislation and news surrounding corporate and personal pension planning. To find ...
  • The Cost of Deferral

    By Rachel Jefferson, Chartered Financial Planner at Torquil Clark. In times of market volatility, pension funds can rise and fall in value. If you are close to ...
  • Pension Matters August 2012

    Welcome to Pension Matters, produced by Torquil Clark. Every month I will update you on the latest legislation and news surrounding corporate and personal pension planning. To find ...
  • Pension Matters July 2012

    Welcome to Pension Matters, produced by Torquil Clark. Every month I will update you on the latest legislation and news surrounding corporate and personal pension planning. To find ...
  • Small Companies Most Vulnerable To Pension Changes

    It is no secret that from October 2012, every employer, starting with the largest by payroll size, will have to automatically enrol eligible workers into a qualifying workplace ...
  • Choosing Your Retirement Date Could Be All Important

    One of the greatest pleasures of my job is seeing someone I have provided advice to reach retirement having saved enough to give them the freedom they desired.  ...
  • Pension Matters June 2012

    Welcome to Pension Matters, produced by Torquil Clark. Every month I will update you on the latest legislation and news surrounding corporate and personal pension planning. To find ...
  • Pension Matters May 2012

    Welcome to Pension Matters, produced by Torquil Clark. Every month I will update you on the latest legislation and news surrounding corporate and personal pension planning. To find ...
  • Get Serious About Pensions Or Face The Fines

    In just a few months we will see the phased introduction of auto-enrolment of and other associated employer duties resulting from the pension reforms. This is not without ...
  • Directors Should Cast Net Wider For Tax Savings

    Around this time of the year every accountant, business consultant and financial adviser worth their salt will be reminding you of the ways to save tax on the ...
  • Pension Matters April 2012

    Welcome to Pension Matters, produced by Torquil Clark. Every month I will update you on the latest legislation and news surrounding corporate and personal pension planning. To find ...
  • Budget 2012: Update

    Budget Summary Described by some as a ‘budget for millions’ and others as a ‘budget for millionaires’, this year’s budget is certainly a political gamble for the Coalition ...
  • Pension Matters March 2012

    Welcome to Pension Matters, produced by Torquil Clark. Every month I will update you on the latest legislation and news surrounding corporate and personal pension planning. To find ...
  • End Of Year Tax Planning - Key Considerations

    With the end of the current tax year quickly approaching, we’ve highlighted some of the key financial matters you may need to consider before you miss out. Fixed ...
  • Open Market Option Still Not Being Used

    In my 16 years in this industry, it still amazes me that people do not take advice when they decide to take their pension benefits. For me, this ...
  • What A Difference A Day Makes

    With the impending reduction in the Lifetime Allowance from £1.8 million to £1.5 million, quirks in the legislation means that for certain individuals looking to take benefits over ...
  • In A Fix About Protecting Pensions

    The lifetime allowance, the tax efficient ceiling for pension savings, will be reduced from £1.8 million to £1.5 million on 6 April 2012.  To negate this, a new ...
  • Pension Matters February 2012

    Welcome to Pension Matters, produced by Torquil Clark. Every month I will update you on the latest legislation and news surrounding corporate and personal pension planning. To find ...
  • Hoping For A Dishwasher - Settling For Equity Release

    This morning the postman delivered my monthly subscription to the Which? Magazine. I was really hoping for an independent review on dishwashers, since this is my next electrical ...
  • Opportunity Knocks For Protected Rights

    First introduced back in April 1988 as the benefit format for contracting-out of the State Second Pension via money purchase pension arrangements, Protected Rights will bow out in ...
  • Off The Shelf Wills Are Not Always The Way

    By Rachel Jefferson. Every day this week I have come across a horror story around the subject of people not making a Will or, even worse, not drawing ...
  • A Defining Year for Pensions

    For those who have anything remotely to do with pensions 2012 will be an important year. Some have even suggested that it will be the most important year ...
  • Pension Matters January 2012

    Welcome to Pension Matters, produced by Torquil Clark. Every month I will update you on the latest legislation and news surrounding corporate and personal pension planning. To find ...
  • Taking Action On Inheritance Tax

    How many times have you been told that Inheritance Tax (IHT) could eventually wipe a large amount from the value of your estate on death, gone away, thought ...
  • Employers must engage with employees for pension changes to work

    With the introduction and prospect of employers having to auto-enrol their ‘eligible job holders’ into a pension scheme, starting next year, millions of employees will be saving in ...
  • Pension Matters December 2011

    Welcome to Pension Matters, produced by Torquil Clark. Every month I will update you on the latest legislation and news surrounding corporate and personal pension planning. To find ...
  • Torquil Clark Wins The Gold Standard Award

    Torquil Clark has won the prestigious Gold Standard Award for Independent Financial Advice for the eighth consecutive year and was presented the award in the House of Commons ...
  • Autumn Statement: Key Points & Reaction

    In essence this was a budget which just reminds us all that Britain’s books will not be balanced by the next election. With the Eurozone sliding towards recession, ...
  • Consider The Options Before Taking Your Pension

    When you were a young­ster do you remember chuckling at the silly antics of Freddie and the Dreamers, or sing­ing along to Herman’s Hermits? If so, you’re probably ...
  • Uncertainties Still Surround Auto-Enrolment

    Next year will see the start of a huge revolution in the provi­sion of workplace savings. Pensions auto-enrolment, under which all employers will be compelled to offer most ...
  • Pension Matters November 2011

    Welcome to Pension Matters, produced by Torquil Clark. Every month I will update you on the latest legislation and news surrounding corporate and personal pension planning. To find ...
  • Know Where You Stand With Auto Enrolment

    It is the Government’s plan that most employees should join a pension scheme by automatic enrolment through their employer. The starting date for auto enrolment will be October ...
  • New Technologies Aiding Traditional Financial Advice

    In my job as a financial adviser the current pace of change is moving faster than I’ve ever known; it and clients are needing to run fast if ...
  • Employers May Be Required To Provide Staff With Pension Transfer Advice

    It has been widely reported that pensions minister, Steve Webb, has warned employers they will have to pay for independent financial advice to every defined benefit (DB) scheme ...
  • Equity Release Shakes Off Its Old Image

    Equity Release schemes were once looked down on as a product for those struggling to make ends meet in retirement, but that’s no longer the case. New and ...
  • Pension Matters October 2011

    Welcome to Pension Matters, produced by Torquil Clark. Every month I will update you on the latest legislation and news surrounding corporate and personal pension planning. To find ...
  • Professional Advisers Must Work Together

    Sometimes, I think too many of us in the professions, including perhaps solicitors and accountants, make assumptions about clients’ expectations from us without asking them what they think....
  • Employers Need to Grasp Pension Scheme Governance

    Employers are still in the dark over their role, risks and responsibilities when promoting pensions to employees. This is a strong indication that the Pensions Regulator (TPR) will ...
  • What next for cash savers?

    National Savings and Investments have always been a sturdy choice for savers. Last week the announcement to close Index Linked Saving Certificates to new money was unexpected and ...
  • Pension Matters September 2011

    Welcome to Pension Matters, produced by Torquil Clark. Every month I will update you on the latest legislation and news surrounding corporate and personal pension planning. To find ...
  • Restoring Confidence In Financial Advice

    I’ve come to realise that it is not easy for the public to seek out a good Independent Financial Adviser (IFA) without some degree of initial apprehension. Quite ...
  • Time, not timing is the key to preparation

    2012 seems like a long way off (unless you are a potential Olympic athlete struggling with an injury) however, the timing of the first ‘staging date’ for employers ...
  • Stock Market Update - 10th August 2011

    After recent losses, and subsequent gains, the markets are again down as a result of continued concern over debt and a slowdown in global economic growth. The stock ...
  • Pension Matters August 2011

    Welcome to Pension Matters, produced by Torquil Clark. Every month I will update you on the latest legislation and news surrounding corporate and personal pension planning. To find ...
  • Stock Market Update

    Last week began with the US Government finally reaching an agreement on its deficit with a cutting programme of at least $2.1 trillion dollars over the next ten ...
  • New Accounting Rules For Pensions

    On 16 June 2011 the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) published a revised version of its planned amendments to the international accounting standard IAS 19 (Employee Benefits).  It ...
  • Financial Planning Clinic

    On Saturday 6th August 2011 we are hosting a financial planning clinic from 9.30am until 1pm at our office in St Mark's Church in Chapel Ash, Wolverhampton. Rachel Jefferson, ...
  • Care Needed When Dealing With Retiring Employees

    Employers should be preparing for the abolition of the Default Retirement Age (DRA) from 1 October 2011, which will change how they deal with people approaching retirement age ...
  • Pension Contributions Grow As Tax Incentives Become More Valuable

    High earners have been feeling hard done by in recent times with income tax now reaching 50% for some and effective rates even higher for people in certain ...
  • Pension Matters July 2011

    Welcome to Pension Matters, produced by Torquil Clark. Every month I will update you on the latest legislation and news surrounding corporate and personal pension planning. To find ...
  • Pension Matters June 2011

    Welcome to Pension Matters, produced by Torquil Clark. Every month I will update you on the latest legislation and news surrounding corporate and personal pension planning. To find ...
  • Financial Planning Clinic

    On Saturday 25th June 2011 we are hosting a financial planning clinic from 9.30am until 1pm at our office in St Mark's Church in Chapel Ash, Wolverhampton. Rachel Jefferson, one ...
  • Pension Matters May 2011

    Welcome to Pension Matters, produced by Torquil Clark. Every month I will update you on the latest legislation and news surrounding corporate and personal pension planning. To find out ...
  • Cut Through The Red Tape – A Guide To Upcoming Legislation

    Every business in the land is focused on navigating its way through the difficult trading conditions we all find ourselves in. So you would have thought that our ...
  • Pension Matters April 2011

    Welcome to Pension Matters, produced by Torquil Clark. Every month I will update you on the latest legislation and news surrounding corporate and personal pension planning. To find out ...
  • Employee Communication

    The Annual Allowance (the maximum amount of pension savings an individual can make in any one tax year without incurring a tax charge) is reducing from its current level of ...
  • Pension Matters March 2011

    Welcome to Pension Matters, produced by Torquil Clark Employee Benefits. Every month I will update you on the latest legislation and news surrounding corporate and personal pension planning. To ...
  • Pension Matters February 2011

    Welcome to Pension Matters, produced by Torquil Clark Employee Benefits. Every month I will update you on the latest legislation and news surrounding corporate and personal pension planning. To ...
  • Employment Law & Pensions Seminars

    The Pension Act 2008 is due to come into force in 2012, and with this comes the legal duty upon employers to ensure that they enrol most employees into a ...
  • Pension Matters January 2011

    Welcome to Pension Matters, produced by Torquil Clark Employee Benefits. Every month I will update you on the latest legislation and news surrounding corporate and personal pension planning. To ...
  • End To The Requirement To Annuitise By Age 75

    As part of the pension shakeup by the new coalition government, one of the more welcomed changes is the end to the requirement to buy an annuity by age 75. ...
  • Gold Standard Award for Independent Financial Advice

    We are delighted to announce that we have won the 2010 Gold Standard Award for Independent Financial Advice. The Awards aim to identify financial services companies that demonstrate a ...
  • Pensions Allowance Update

    Following today's announcement from the Treasury that the annual pensions allowance will be cut from its current level of £255k to £50,000 and the lifetime allowance will drop from £1.8 ...