Impressive and scary at the same time. The illustrations in this blog, drawn from a recent IMF spillover assessment, show just how exposed to financial services the UK really is. No comment is required from me, other than to point to the first image, which shows that the UK has a bigger external balance sheet [...]
Britain ranks below Peru in a new analysis by one of the world’s biggest fund managers of the risk to investors who buy government bonds. Norway, Sweden and Switzerland are the least risky bond issuers among 44 countries analysed in the BlackRock Sovereign Risk Index. At the other end of the scale, also in descending [...]
Falling house prices and low interest rates have combined to keep corporate and individual insolvencies lower than expected, according to leading accountants. “With all the doom and gloom in the headlines, you might be surprised to hear that our insolvency department is not that busy,” said Mike Warburton of Grant Thornton. He added: “Low interest [...]
Wealthy people will be able to make bigger gifts to charity in their wills without decreasing what their heirs inherit under new Inheritance Tax (IHT) rules which take effect next April. But leading accountants are divided about how effective the incentives will be, compared to existing taxbreaks that encourage charitable giving by mortals of more [...]
Religion and commerce never mix well, but for Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, to throw himself onto the bandwagon already occupied by the Vatican, Jose Manuel Barroso, Uncle Tom Cobley and all, and back calls for a "Robin Hood" tax on financial transactions demonstrates very little understanding of the real world. This is one [...]
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The IRS recently released the October interest rates for pension plans. What do they hold in store for plan sponsors? This post summarizes some of the important rates along with our observations. Funding Segment Rates The interest rates used to determine pension plan liabilities for IRS funding purposes are composed of three segment rates (unless [...]
The IRS just announced the 2012 retirement plan benefit limits and we’re finally going to see some (very) modest increases after 3 years of flat rates. What does it all mean for employer-sponsored retirement plans? This post analyzes the practical effects for both defined contribution (DC) and defined benefit (DB) plans, followed by a table [...]
We often hear the question “why should I contribute to a qualified retirement plan if tax rates might go up”? Good question; here’s why: you’ll probably end up with more money after tax. That’s true even if tax rates go up in the future. How much more you’ll end up with depends on your investment [...]
Nonqualified deferred compensation plans are a common feature of executive pay packages. They’re a great choice in the right conditions, i.e. when: The executive’s share of company profits is very small, and The executive is willing to shoulder the employer’s credit risk, and Providing the benefits through a qualified plan would be too expensive. But [...]