Pension annuities explained

A pension annuity converts the funds built up 

in your pension scheme into a regular income. 
The income is then payable for the rest of your life.

Not all pension schemes automatically 
provide you with an income.

If you're lucky enough to be in a salary related 
(defined benefit) scheme then the unsecured loans chances are 
it will provide you with a pension income.

However, if like the majority of people, you’re in a money purchase (‘defined contribution’ scheme), then you will need to use your pension fund(s) to buy a pension annuity to provide you with your income.

You can normally start taking your pension benefits from age 55.

Current UK pension legislation allows you to start taking your bad credit loans pension benefits from age 55. You don't have to give up work to start receiving your pension income.

You can take a tax-free cash sum.

Before buying your pension annuity, you will normally be entitled to take up to 25% of your pension fund(s) as a tax-free cash sum. The remainder of your fund is then used to buy your annuity. Alternatively, you can use all of your pension fund to buy your annuity.

It pays to shop around.

You don’t necessarily have to buy your pension annuity from your pension provider. Buying your annuity from another provider could increase the income available to you by up to 20%; and even more where your pension provider doesn't offer enhanced annuities.

The Money Advice Service has annuity comparison tables for the various annuity providers, based on the size of your fund and the annuity payment options you select. This can be useful when deciding which providers you want to request quotes from.

The income you’re offered will be based on a number of factors.

The amount of income you’ll be offered will largely depend on the following factors:

• the size of your pension fund
• annuity rates and market conditions when you buy
• your age, sex and postcode, (if provided)
• the annuity options you choose
• the state of your health and certain lifestyle choices.

Your annuity income will be subject to income tax and will depend on your individual circumstances.

We offer two types of pension annuity.

• Our Pension Annuity will provide you with a pension income for the rest of your life that won't fall.

     We offer extra income for our Pension Annuity where one or more qualifying lifestyle 
     health risks or medical conditions apply. These are our enhanced annuities.

• Our With Profits Annuity will provide you with a pension income for the rest of your life whilst allowing you the opportunity to benefit from the potential growth of investments. The value of investments can go down as well as up so your income could fall from one year to the next.

When choosing your annuity, you will need to tell us how you would like your income paid and whether you want a proportion of your income to continue to be paid in the event of your death. These are your annuity options.

You could qualify for extra income.

Certain medical and/or lifestyle conditions could qualify you for our enhanced Pension Annuity. The more serious your condition(s), the more income we’re able to offer.

The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has warned the Low Pay Commission (LPC) that any further increase in the National Minimum Wage will cost jobs and discourage investment in the convenience store sector.  unsecured loans

In a face-to-face evidence session, the ACS told the LPC that 70% of retailers had cut jobs and staff hours as a result of the 2010 minimum wage increase.

It added that retailers were cutting investment as a result of increased employment costs and that further minimum age increases in 2012 would be affordability in the context of record increases in business rates and other costs. 

“The National Minimum Wage should be a floor below which wages should not fall,” said ACS chief executive James Lowman. “It is now at such a level that it is causing people to be laid off or have their hours cut. We have also seen evidence of retailers moving to a younger age profile for staff and eroding differentials for higher paid staff.

“More than ever before, the Commission is taking evidence at a time when the future for UK businesses is uncertain,” added Lowman. bad credit loans “With other costs increasing in 2012, and with margins tighter than ever, a minimum wage increase in 2012 will cost jobs and investment.”

The ACS also set up an independently facilitated focus group to explore in detail retailers’ responses to the National Minimum Wage which met earlier this year.

The LPC is set to make its report on the National Minimum Wage to government early next year.

Trust and Having Joint Bank Account

joint bank accounts often give rise to problems on death, either because of uncertainty as to the extent of the deceased’s interest or because of uncertainty as to the correct inheritance tax (IHT) treatment.

In Re Northall (deceased) [2010] EWHC 1448 (Ch), Mrs Northall had bought her council house with the aid of one of her six sons. The property was sold in December 2006 and she received a cheque for £54,836 but did not have a bank account. On 29 December 2006 one of her other sons, Christopher, opened a joint account in her name and his own. Between 5 January 2007 and Mrs Northall’s death on 23 January 2007 payments totalling £28,625 were paid out by Christopher. On 24 January 2007 he caused the whole of the remaining balance in the estate to be transferred to his own joint account with his wife.

Christopher claimed that the account had been put into joint names so that he could make withdrawals on behalf of Mrs Northall who was becoming very frail. He said that it was her intention that she would use the proceeds of the sale as she wished but if there was any residue when she died it was to go to him. He said that his mother had instructed him to make withdrawals. The judge described this as an admission that Mrs Northall was the beneficial owner of the funds in the joint account. His defence was, therefore, that the initial transfers were on her instructions and that he was entitled to the balance by virtue of survivorship.

The following legal principles applied:

• When one person puts money into joint names there is a presumption of a resulting trust to the provider. The presumption can be rebutted: if the circumstances give rise to the presumption of advancement which was not the case here (as to the presumption of advancement generally, see below); or by evidence that the provider intended to transfer the beneficial interest;
• The burden of proof of such an intention is on the person alleging it.

There was no evidence that the money had been intended as a gift to Christopher. Mrs Northall had intended it to remain hers to spend as she wished.

There was insufficient evidence to establish that she intended any remaining balance to pass to Christopher. Admittedly the account-opening form provided for survivorship, but the judge found that this was insufficient, particularly since there was nothing to show that it was ever drawn to her attention. He therefore ordered that Christopher should account for the amount remaining in the account at the date of Mrs Northall’s death and for the lifetime withdrawals, apart from those where there was evidence to show that they were made on Mrs Northall’s instructions.

What is interesting about the decision is that it shows how important evidence is as to the intentions of the parties when the account is opened. In Aroso v Coutts [2002] 1 All ER (Comm) 241, the deceased had transferred substantial amounts into an account in the joint names of himself and a nephew. The evidence showed that the terms of the bank mandate were very clear and had been drawn to the deceased’s attention by the bank. The effect was that the presumption of the resulting trust was displaced and the balance in the account passed by survivorship to the joint account holder.

The IHT position of joint accounts has been considered in cases such as Sillars v IRC [2004] STC (SCD) 180. The Revenue has successfully argued that in cases where the provider of funds is free to draw on the whole of the account, the whole of the account, not just a share, is to be included in the deceased’s estate at death. There are two reasons for this:

(1) Section 5(2) of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 provides that a person who has power or authority enabling him to appoint or dispose of property as he thinks fit is to be treated as beneficially entitled to the property; and

(2) There is a gift with reservation since the provider has made a gift of the whole account but continued to enjoy a benefit from the account.

Presumption of advancement
The UK was criticised by the EU for its discriminatory treatment of gifts by husbands and wives. Gifts by a woman to a husband are presumed to be held on a resulting trust, whereas gifts by a man to his wife are presumed to transfer full beneficial entitlement. Section 199 of the Equality Act 2010 therefore abolishes the presumption of advancement. The relevant provision is not yet active but it is thought that it will be brought into force in the autumn.

More on Hastings-Bass
In Jiggens v Low [2010] EWHC the High Court set aside a deed of appointment as a result of applying the principle in Re Hastings-Bass [1974] EWCA Civ 13, on the basis that the trustees had failed to take into account potential tax consequences that they should have when entering into the deed. The case followed Futter v Futter [2010] EWHC 449 (Ch) in deciding that the deed was void rather than merely voidable. Futter itself is under appeal, so it will be interesting to see what the Court of Appeal makes of it.

In Gorjat v Gorjat [2010] EWHC 1537 (Ch), adult children (French citizens) unsuccessfully challenged their father’s transfer of Swiss bank accounts into joint names with his second wife shortly before his death on the basis of lack of capacity and undue influence. The initial question for the court was jurisdiction, and also of the validity of an assignment of intangible property rather than one of succession.

As such it was governed by the law which, under the Rome Convention on the Law Applicable to Contractual Relations 1980, as enacted by the Contracts unsecured loans (Applicable Law) Act 1990, would apply to a contract between the assignor and the assignee. In the absence of an express choice, a contract, and therefore a gift, is governed by the law of the country with which it is most closely connected, which is presumed to be the place of the habitual residence of the person who is to effect the performance ‘which is characteristic to the contract’ (article 4). bad credit loans England was the deceased’s country of habitual residence in the sense explained by Munby J in Marinos v Marinos [2007] EWHC 2047 (Fam). Therefore English law applied. 

Swiss banks, the low down

James Bond enters a Swiss bank in Spain and is frisked before he can meet with the banker. In the "Da Vinci Code," a triangular-shaped key activates a robotic arm that pulls a safety deposit box from the wall in a Swiss bank in Paris to ultimately reveal the secret to Christianity. The funny thing is neither of these scenes would actually happen in a real Swiss bank. There is no such robotic system and, while Swiss banks do have security, they don't search their clients before letting them unsecured loans access accounts. Most of us have formed ideas about what Swiss bank accounts are and how they work based on scenes like these that we've seen in the movies, read in books, or maybe even heard in the news. In other words, most of us have a distorted or mostly unrealistic view of what it really means to have the prestigious Swiss bank account. Let's dig deeper into Swiss Bank Accounts and see how they started, who can have an account and unlock the mystery.

Swiss bank accounts aren't just for millionaires, criminals bad credit loans or government officials trying to hide ill-gotten wealth, or celebrities protecting their assets from former spouses. They're available to anyone and lots of average people have Swiss bank accounts. People who live in countries with unstable governments and banks in particular often turn to Swiss banks because of their security and privacy.

But let's face it, most of us really just want to be able to say, "Oh, I'll wire the money from my Swiss bank account."

How to obtain a loan

The Loan ProcessWhen thinking about getting a loan, it can be important to look at the situation from the bank's perspective. To the bank, loans are a major source of revenue. The bank cuts you a check for a certain amount of money (principal), and you give the bank that same amount of money back as well as the interest that is charged for the privilege of letting you have that money. Interest payments are the lifeblood of most banks. 
Loans aren't hand-outs, and they shouldn't be approached as such; a bank's primary concern is determining whether or not you will be able to pay back your debt based on its time frame and agenda. 

Banks judge potential borrowers based on a number of key things. Among them: 

1. Who: Who are you? What do you have to offer the bank?
2. What: What's the money for? A bank is a lot more likely to lend money to someone who wants to build a home addition (and add equity) than someone who is planning on spending the money on consumption or disposable goods.
3. Where: Where you're trying to get your loan from can be a big factor of whether or not you get it. Lending criteria can vary between a brick-and-mortar bank and an online financial institution as well as between various geographic regions - some lenders are going to be more prone to give than others.
4. When: The length and terms of the loan - both the interest rate and the duration of the loan - determine when banks can start recording a profit and also how much profit it will reap.
5. How: Can the bank be sure that you will be able to pay the loan off based on the terms? How can you guarantee payback or at least hedge the bank's risk in some way?

Who You AreWho you are is actually an important element unsecured loans of whether the bank will see you as a viable borrower. Believe it or not, you're being judged from the moment you walk in that door based on one of the few tools the lender has - your appearance. So dress the part: If you want to be treated like a professional, dress like one.

Right or wrong, the lender will use their biases and preconceptions in determining whether you're a good risk for the institution to take on. Also, don't be surprised if the bank does a background check on you. They will certainly be checking into your credit history. 
What You Plan to DoSince it's the bank's money, it's also the bank's business as to what you're planning on doing with it. If you need a bank loan to fund your gambling habit, chances are you won't be getting much in the way of financing.

If, however, you're trying to purchase or improve an asset - like a car, a home or your business - banks usually see this as a point in your favor.

Where You Plan to Borrow 
These days, there are alternatives to getting a loan from a traditional bank. Online lending is quickly becoming a popular option because of higher online competition and quicker loan approval. With online lenders, fraud-awareness and reputability become major concerns. Always make sure that you're only dealing with reputable companies and not readily giving away private information to non-secure or irresponsible companies. 

Where you are in the world can also have an bad credit loans impact on loan approval. This is a matter of scarcity. If you're trying to get a loan in an economically depressed area, banks are bound to be much more selective about who they loan money to than in an area of vast economic growth.  By taking this into consideration, you can get a much more realistic view of your prospects.

When You Pay 
When it comes down to deciding which loan to accept (or in the case of the bank, what to offer), the terms of the loan are the biggest factors. Some of the items that can vary are the interest rate, the length of the loan and the type of loan.

Interest is the premium that you're paying to the bank for the use of their money, so lower interest rates are better for borrowers. The duration is the amount of time you'll be paying off the loan, so once again, a smaller number is better - this will mean a lower overall interest expense.

The type of loan you're looking at is also significant because it can be a big factor in the amount of money you pay during each payment period.