Freelancers and self-employed individuals lack automatic workplace pension contributions but can still rely on the State Pension by making qualifying National Insurance contributions for at least 10 years. It's important to check your State Pension status via the Personal Tax Account to understand your future pension entitlements. To enhance retirement savings, setting up a private pension is advisable, providing a tax-efficient savings method and the structure for managing future finances.
💲Despite the challenges of variable income, starting a private pension with as little as £50 a month can accumulate over time, aided by tax relief which effectively lowers the cost of contributions.
⬇️When choosing a private pension, options include Stakeholder and Personal Pensions. Stakeholder Pensions feature low minimum contributions and capped charges but offer limited investment choices. Personal Pensions, frequently managed by insurance companies, present a broader range of investment options, appealing to those seeking more tailored investment strategies. Both routes offer valuable pathways to supplementing the State Pension, securing financial stability in retirement for freelancers and self-employed professionals.
Freelancers and self-employed individuals lack automatic workplace pension contributions but can still rely on the State Pension by making qualifying National Insurance contributions for at least 10 years. It's important to check your State Pension status via the Personal Tax Account to understand your future pension entitlements. To enhance retirement savings, setting up a private pension is advisable, providing a tax-efficient savings method and the structure for managing future finances.
💲Despite the challenges of variable income, starting a private pension with as little as £50 a month can accumulate over time, aided by tax relief which effectively lowers the cost of contributions.
⬇️When choosing a private pension, options include Stakeholder and Personal Pensions. Stakeholder Pensions feature low minimum contributions and capped charges but offer limited investment choices. Personal Pensions, frequently managed by insurance companies, present a broader range of investment options, appealing to those seeking more tailored investment strategies. Both routes offer valuable pathways to supplementing the State Pension, securing financial stability in retirement for freelancers and self-employed professionals.
Bitcoin is built on a distributed digital record called a blockchain. As the name implies, blockchain is a linked body of data, made up of units called blocks that contain information about each and every transaction, including date and time, total value, buyer and seller, and a unique identifying code for each exchange. Entries are strung together in chronological order, creating a digital chain of blocks. “Once a block is added to the blockchain, it becomes accessible to anyone who wishes to view it, acting as a public ledger of cryptocurrency transactions,” says Stacey Harris, consultant for Pelicoin, a network of cryptocurrency ATMs. Blockchain is decentralized, which means it’s not controlled by any one organization. “It’s like a Google Doc that anyone can work on,” says Buchi Okoro, CEO and co-founder of African cryptocurrency exchange Quidax. “Nobody owns it, but anyone who has a link can contribute to it. And as different people update it, your copy also gets updated.”
The S&P 500 slumped 1.8% on Monday and Tuesday, thanks to China Evergrande, the Chinese property company that looks like it is ready to default on its more-than $300 billion in debt. Cries of the next Lehman Brothers—or maybe the next Silverado?—echoed through the canyons of Wall Street as investors prepared for the worst.
