My wife and I are both retired with excellent private and state pensions which more than cover our lifestyle.I am 74 years old. I also have another SIPP pension of £350,000 which I have not drawn down. If I do nothing, will I lose the chance to draw 25% (£87,500) of the pension tax free?I know that if I die before I am 75 my family will be able to draw on the pension tax free. However, once I re

I work as a technical consultant in an air freshener company and earn £30,000 a year. I am single, aged 24 and live at home with my parents. I?m delighted the government has cut my national insurance contributions as it means I may have a bit more money in my pay packet this month. But before I go spend it, should I be saving it and if so what should I save it in? I have joined my employer?s pens

Dear readers,After six years answering your brilliant (and often challenging) questions, I have written my final Ask Tom. I will remain at AJ Bell as director of public policy but my fantastic colleague, head of policy Rachel Vahey, will now be the one responding in these pages.When I first suggested creating a weekly pensions ?agony uncle? column in 2016, I?d be lying if I said I wasn?t a little

Stocks closed mixed in London on Friday, ending the year with its annual return behind that of its global counterparts.The FTSE 100 index closed up 10.50 points, 0.1%, at 7,733.24. The FTSE 250 ended down 29.53 points, 0.2%, at 19,689.63 and the AIM All-Share closed down 0.34 of a point at 763.32.The FTSE 100 ended up 0.2% at 772.47, the FTSE 250 closed down 0.1% at 17,163.49, and the smaller comp

Despite having worked in finance since the mid-1980s, Geoff admits he didn't actually start thinking about investing for his future seriously until the mid-1990s.After returning to the UK following a secondment in Europe, he was surprised to receive a cheque from HMRC for the overpayment of income tax while he was abroad.'It was only £3,000, but I was 31 and at the time that was a decent chunk of

Premier Miton calls for new 'Great British ISA'New wrapper would have extra £5,000 annual allowanceAJ Bell argues six different ISA variations already cause confusionFund manager Premier Miton (PMI:AIM) is calling for a new 'Great British ISA' designed to invest solely in UK equities that it believes would help encourage private companies to list in the UK and stay and grow here in Britain.The as

Insurers preferred to banksAirlines out but two-way trade in internet retailHousebuilders get benefit of the doubtIt is always fascinating to see which stocks are the most popular in terms of order flow and value traded, and for anyone who wants to find it this information is freely available on the AJ Bell website, relating to the activities of its customers.BANKS OUT, INSURERS INOver the last mo

- Stranded Woodford investors to get up to £235 million- Money retrieved now 77% of fund value at suspension- Other parties being investigatedA long-awaited victory for over 300,000 investors was cemented on Thursday after the Financial Conduct Authority and Link Fund Solutions (LFS) agreed a 'significant redress' of up to £235 million to investors in the LF Woodford Equity Income Fund (the WEIF

Many people believe that cash is a safe way of saving, but when it comes to the long term, cash is not king. Over the past two decades average UK savings rates have been going one way - down. Since about 2012, average interest on cash savings have been about 2% a year or less.This decline could be managed during the years of low inflation but emerging from the pandemic has turned all that on its h

- Consumer giant shows the power of its brands- Full year sales growth to beat previous forecast- Shares lead FTSE gainers ahead of Fed meetingShares in Reckitt Benckiser (RKT) leapt 6% to £67.54 to top the FTSE 100 leader board after it became the second big consumer goods group to surprise investors this week with better than expected results and an increase in full year guidance.Like Unilever

The summer holiday season is upon us, and those who are brave enough to be risking travel disruption in search of more exotic climes will no doubt be thinking about what reading material to pack for whiling away the hours on the beach, or in the airport departure lounge.An engrossing bestseller will often be the order of the day, but if you don't want to switch your brain off entirely, and would l

With stock markets wrestling with the twin concerns of too little growth and too much inflation, cautious investors who want to spread their risk might want to look at multi-asset funds.Rather than just owning shares, these funds own a mixture of equities (another term for stocks and shares), bonds, currencies, and alternative assets such as property and infrastructure.As such they take the guessw

UK stocks regained some of their earlier losses on Thursday but closed in the red as the debate around the potential economic damage caused by Omicron intensified.US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen weighed in on the debate by saying the new variant could slow the global economy and cause significant problems.Meanwhile oil prices rallied around 1.5% after the OPEC+ oil producers' cartel said they w

UK stocks remained in deep negative territory at midday Thursday as investment sentiment continued to suffer from worries over the Omicron variant and US central bank plans to increase its pace of tapering. Investors were also watching energy prices ahead of a meeting of OPEC+ oil producers, which it is hoped will lead to an increase in supplies after the U.S. and others released crude from their

UK stocks dropped in early trading after a selloff in overseas markets following the first case of the Omicron variant in the U.S. and a warning from technology firm Apple that demand for its latest iPhone had weakened.Meanwhile, investors were also watching energy prices ahead of an meeting of OPEC+ oil producers, which it is hoped will lead to an increase in supplies after the U.S. and others re

The FTSE 100 closed lower on Thursday after the health secretary said reopening on 21 June remained 'in the balance' due to the increasing spread of the Indian variant while France said it would place restrictions on UK travellers from the end of the month.US weekly jobless claims came in better than expected at 406,000, a new pandemic low while the durable orders report showed businesses spending

FTSE drifted lower at midday on Thursday as gains in resource stocks was offset by falls in oils. At midday the FTSE 100 index of leading shares was 0.15% lower at 7,017 points, while the domestically oriented FTSE 250 index was 0.15% higher at 22,674 points, helped by gains in Trainline (TRN) and Meggitt (MGGT).There is a raft of US economic data due to be released this afternoon including weekly

UK stocks traded sideways on Thursday as gains in mining and aerospace stocks were offset by weakness in utilities and consumer names. By 9am the FTSE 100 was down 3 points at 7,024, while the FTSE 250 mid-cap index was up 4 points at 22,644.Overnight, markets in America and Asia were largely unchanged as investors sat on the sidelines ahead of crucial trade talks between the US and China later to

UK shares rallied on Thursday afternoon after stronger than expected jobless claims in the US and the European Central Bank citing signs of economic improvement.Weekly US jobless claims unexpectedly dropped to 547,000 last week, the lowest since mid-March and below the 617,000 expected by economists.The FTSE 100 index of leading shares closed 0.62% higher to 6,938.24.COMPANY NEWSPest control and h

UK shares gave up early gains by Thursday lunchtime as growing fears over worldwide coronavirus flare-ups continue to weigh on risk assets.Markets will be paying close attention to what the European Central Bank has to say later at its press conference as Europe continues to struggle in its vaccination roll-out. Across the Atlantic, US chip giant Intel Corp is expected to report today.At 12pm the