Should winter fuel payments for pensioners be means tested to help fund elderly care? January 3, 2013 YES Paul Burstow A person that owns an average priced home will currently pay the equivalent of around 65 per cent of its value to pay for their old-age care. But implementing the proposals of the Dilnot Commission – capping the cost of care at £50,000, and extending the means test to £100,000 – would [...]
Fiscal cliff deal is no grand bargain to save the US from growing debts January 2, 2013 WHILE revellers in New York greeted 2013 with renditions of Auld Lang Syne, Washington reflected on a year of fierce partisanship and brutal campaigning. But as the country welcomed in the New Year, so too came hopes of a new era of bipartisan co-operation, after a cross-party agreement passed the House of Representatives and the [...]
Steady as she goes December 17, 2012 SHARES in cruise operator Carnival are up by over 14 per cent over the last year. Its earnings conference call on Thursday will confirm that bookings have held up well. The company has also commissioned new ships, adding to its burgeoning fleet. It may not be entirely plain sailing going forward but, for now, the [...]
Saga says inflation has slashed older people’s incomes most December 16, 2012 THE TOTAL increase in the prices of the basket of goods bought by over 65s has outstripped official inflation in the past five years, according to data out today. Over 50s have faced 2.5 percentage points more total inflation since September 2007, data from Saga and the Centre for Economics and Business Research claimed yesterday. [...]
Consultation launched on plan for flat-rate state retirement pot December 5, 2012 A CONSULTATION on replacing the means-tested state pensions with a simpler universal flat rate system will be launched this month. This announcement in the Autumn Statement brought a key part of the coalition’s pension reform closer to being realised, though it will likely be months before the end of the consultation. A paper from the Department [...]
CVC gears up for sixth fund as it eyes water utilities assets November 25, 2012 PRIVATE equity giant CVC Capital Partners is set to push on with its sixth fund raising venture after testing the water with investors for a new €11bn (£8.9bn) fund. The firm, which owns Formula One and is co-owner of AA and Saga parent company Acromas, is soliciting investor interest for a successor to its CVC [...]
Think-tank supports controversial raid on pensions tax relief November 25, 2012 AN INFLUENTIAL think-tank has backed the chancellor’s plans to raid high-earning savers’ pensions tax relief in next week’s Autumn Statement. Centre for Policy Studies research fellow Michael Johnson said in a paper out today that the current incentives to save for a pension are “crude and mis-directed, primarily towards the wealthy”. George Osborne previously lowered [...]
Gloating over broken windows forgets their real costs November 25, 2012 THE price of payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling continues to spiral upwards. Barclays put aside an extra £700m in October for PPI compensation, taking its expected payout to £2bn. RBS and HSBC have each set aside well over £1bn and Lloyds added another £1bn at the start of November, taking its PPI provision to an [...]
Final Twilight film heats up the box office with $341m opening November 18, 2012 THE Twilight vampire saga’s final chapter debuted with a massive $341m (£214.6m) in global movie ticket sales as devoted fans bid farewell to blood-sucking spouses Bella and Edward and one of Hollywood’s biggest franchises. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 earned an estimated $141m in the US and Canada over the weekend, falling [...]
Rapid responses November 15, 2012 Stale bank lending [Re: The real reason businesses aren’t borrowing from their banks, yesterday] Anthony Browne’s argument about small business lending is stale. In his early days in post, we hoped that the chief executive of the British Bankers’ Association (BBA), would have shifted the debate onto more fertile ground. The enormous rise in lending [...]