“The hat trick of Government changes which came into force on 6th April 2016 could mean that people need to re-order the relative priority of different savings and investment vehicles,” explains Karteek Patel, CEO of Crowdstacker.
(PRWEB UK) 20 April 2016
The research, commissioned by peer to peer lender Crowdstacker* as part of its financial apathy campaign, clearly shows the country’s most popular forms of savings and investment are Cash ISAs (51 per cent), pensions (44 per cent) and stocks & shares (26 per cent).
However, with changes afoot, the relative tax efficiency of all of these is called into question. Top line data suggests the average Brit was already missing out on up to £1000 a year, even before April’s changes came into force, by simply not actively managing their money.
“The hat trick of Government changes which came into force on 6th April 2016 could mean that people need to re-order the relative priority of different savings and investment vehicles,” explains Karteek Patel, CEO of Crowdstacker.
“The trouble is we can see from our research that people are apathetic about changing their savings and investment habits. For example 1 in 5 have never changed bank, and twice as many have never sought a better pension by changing provider. In fact we’re just not good at active money management with the average Brit only making financial changes once every five years.*
“The PSA looks simple at first glance, but we think there is a strong argument to say this should potentially take priority over more popular savings and investment routes favoured by British adults,” Karteek continues.
The PSA allows basic rate taxpayers with money in investments such as savings accounts, unit trusts or P2P loans, to earn up to £1000 interest tax free each year. For a higher rate taxpayer, they can receive up to £500 interest without handing a penny over to the taxman. Government figures suggest that 95 per cent of savers will benefit from this change.
Secondly, the £1 million lifetime pension allowance** which came into force in April, means that people could easily breach the limit and fall foul of the 55 per cent tax rate when the time comes to draw it down.
“Even middle-range earners will need to consider this and reformat the ratio of how they allocate their money to savings and investments, to ensure they do not breach the limit,” says Karteek.
And lastly, the Innovative Finance ISA enables investors to wrap their peer to peer investments, up to an annual value of £15,240, in a tax-free ISA wrapper.***
“What we’re experiencing with these seemingly subtle alterations to taxation on savings, actually cumulatively adds up to pretty fundamental changes meaning people should be taking some time over the next few weeks to re-evaluate where they put their money and in what order and ratios they allocate it,” explains Mr Patel.
“Savers and investors utilising these options, to date, have probably been tax efficient and maximised their returns. But now these reforms have come into force, that could all change. The shake-up means people really ought to revisit their savings and investments to check that they are not missing out on value elsewhere.
“There’s been a lot of coverage about the new innovative finance ISA, and obviously this is great for our industry. The Personal Savings Allowance is being talked about more. And the media is full of advice about the pensions changes. But, we would encourage people to take a holistic view about how these changes affect their personal circumstances as a whole.”
Crowdstacker is an FCA regulated peer-to-peer lending platform specialising in offering carefully selected lending opportunities to businesses that have successfully satisfied a rigorous due diligence process. The platform is currently offering four lending opportunities. One for Amicus plc and the other for Quanta Group, targeting annual returns of up to 6.39 per cent and 6.8 per cent respectively, through exposure to the British property market. More information can be found at http://www.crowdstacker.com/investment.
Risk warning
Your capital is at risk if you lend to businesses. Lending through Crowdstacker is not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. For more information please see our full risk warning https://crowdstacker.com/risk-warning.
Crowdstacker Ltd. is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (frn. 648742).
*Atomik Research carried out Crowdstacker’s survey in October 2015 amongst 1007 UK adults
**more information can be found here: http://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/search/results/eyJyZXN1bHRfcGFnZSI6InNlYXJjaFwvcmVzdWx0cyIsImtleXdvcmRzIjoibGlmZXRpbWUgYWxsb3dhbmNlIn0
***https://innovativefinanceisa.org.uk/news/2016-government-draft-regulation-innovative-finance-isa/
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For more press info, contact Rebecca Stiasny on 07771 813 761 or rebecca.stiasny(at)crowdstacker(dot)com
About Crowdstacker
Crowdstacker is an FCA regulated peer to peer lending platform that makes available lending opportunities to great British businesses in the UK.
We aim to make peer-to-peer lending accessible and rewarding for investors, and for the companies who come to us. Our focus is on quality and reliability. So we only consider applications from well established companies who have a compelling proposition and are in good financial health.
The company’s founders have worked together for more than a decade and combine a wealth of knowledge of the finance industry. Their considerable experience includes raising finance for companies, projects and funds in many sectors.