Mosaac Financial Blog

The Budget brought inheritance tax (IHT) into the news headlines, but its impact is not well understood.   Mark and Hannah have an estate valued at £1.25 million, including their jointly owned home worth £400,000. Like many couples, their wills leave everything to the survivor on first death and to their children on second death. What proportion of their estate would disappear in IHT under current rules once that second death occurs? A.      8% B.    20% C.   24% D.   40%   T

A recent survey has raised questions about retirement readiness. One of the world’s largest investment managers, BlackRock, recently published its latest review of the UK’s retirement landscape. The work was based on a survey of 1,000 savers in defined contribution (DC) pension arrangements. This is the type which now dominates private sector retirement provision, mainly through automatic enrolment workplace schemes. BlackRock’s four main findings were: 1.    Generational dif

The long freeze on student tuition fees in England has come to an end. Do you know what the RPIX is? You might guess it’s related to inflation given that RPI is the Retail Prices Index. But what does the X mark? X stands for RPI excluding mortgage interest. RPIX was used as the Bank of England’s inflation target until the end of 2003 when it was replaced by the more familiar Consumer Prices Index (CPI). However, the Office for National Statistics now says the RPI and its deri