18 March 2015

Guy Foster, Head of Research discusses the impact of the budget on economies and individuals with Simon Blowey, Divisional Director of Financial Planning and James Dowey, Neptune's Chief Economist.

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The budget of "no giveaways and no gimmicks" ended up being a little underwhelming. Certainly there were no giveaways although we would probably be a little naïve to describe it has having no gimmicks.
In this podcast we discuss the three main areas of interest:
• Pensions, where further liberalisation had been pre-announced - we discuss the further reduction in the life time allowance, the conspicuous absence of further restriction on the annual contribution limit and the implications of existing annuity holders ability to cash in and several new ISAs.

• Savings, where in the names of simplification the stable of tax free savings has exploded into a menagerie of new vehicles for every eventuality. Added to which a new windfall for savers comes in the form of some tax-free interest. How much of a windfall is this in practise?

• Inheritance tax, where a completely unexpected side swipe at the humble deed of variation was announced; surprisingly absent were measures to shelter the family home from death duty. Is this the final word on the subject or a platform for polices which can be better discussed in the election manifesto, without the interference of junior coalition partners?

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