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Five million pension savers could be susceptible to the common tactics used by scammers to steal retirement savings, research suggests. Two-fifths (42%) of 45 to 65-year-olds with a pension could end up putting themselves at risk, according to a survey released by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Pensions Regulator (TPR). Presented with six scam scenarios, they said they would act in one or more ways which could potentially leave them exposed to fraud. This could equate to five million people being susceptible to pension scams if the survey findings were projected across the UK.
Fund manager Neil Woodford will keep his flagship £3.7bn fund frozen for at least another month, leaving thousands of investors without access to their money. Mr Woodford, one of Britain's best known money managers, released a video - the second since the Woodford Equity Income Fund was suspended on 3 June - in which he said there was "no prescribed time limit" on how long it could cease trading for.
Hundreds of thousands of drawdown investors are unaware they can change or stop their withdrawals, according to new research for Zurich. Half (52%) of all over-55s taking an income in drawdown do not know they can reduce their withdrawals, and more than half (56%) are unaware they can stop them – despite income flexibility being a defining feature of the product.
A growing number of property investors are realising that they can generate better returns by buying a run-down property and renovating it to achieve a higher re-sale price or retaining the property and benefitting from increased rental income. So, what are the options?
With the majority of their wealth tied up in property, therefore one question is can your executors sell your rental property if you were a landlord? This needs to address their own demise unless they want to leave their loved ones in a right financial pickle. I only discovered recently, following the sudden death of a relative, how cruel the UK taxation system is when someone dies.
