Brewin's Election manifesto for savers

With the forthcoming general election, the country stands at a crossroads to its future. Brewin Dolphin, the leading Wealth Manager with an office in Exeter believes that however the country moves forward, we could all benefit from financial policies that support savings and investment and encourage self-reliance.

Brewin’s expert Investment Managers and Financial Planners have put forward a seven point manifesto that it believes will allow British savers to prepare adequately for their futures with confidence and promotes financial resilience.

“For the last 250 years, irrespective of the hue of the Government, Brewin Dolphin has stood for a constant set of principles, which have encouraged people to save for the long term,” says Tim Walker, Head of Brewin Dolphin in Exeter. “However, continual meddling with the pension system and roadblocks in the way of savers mean that the country is now at a crossroads in terms of its population’s financial planning.

Tim Walker, Head of Brewin Dolphin in Exeter said, “So we call upon whoever forms the next government to back policies that support savers throughout their lifetime, teach children the financial basics from a young age, encourage people to save for their children’s higher education and their own retirement, focus on long-term investment and make it easier for people to pass on their assets to their children.”

The Brewin Dolphin seven-point savers’ manifesto calls upon all parties to:

• Extend financial education in schools and create a generation of financially responsible educated young people

• Encourage savings for children by giving Junior Isas the same 25 per cent uplift as new Help to Buy Isas, to help families save for education

• Pensions:  Cap contributions, not growth - by limiting the total sum that can be contributed into a pension fund, rather than penalising investment performance by capping its eventual size

• Accelerate the mandatory contribution into pensions via auto-enrolment, with a pledge to increase contributions to 10 per cent by 2020.

• Pensions: Introduce 30-day cooling off period prior to pension pot withdrawal, to help protect vulnerable retirees and underpin the need for professional financial advice.

• Encourage long-term investment through a reform of the Capital Gains Tax system which cuts the rate to 10 per cent after ten years and to zero after twenty

• Modernise inheritance tax: increase the threshold and reduce the time limit on lifetime gifts from seven years to five years

A more detailed explanation of all these points is now available at www.brewin.co.uk/savers-manifesto
In depth articles will be posted on each manifesto point over the coming weeks.

For more information or to order copies of the more detailed papers – please call the Brewin Dolphin press office on 020 3201 3330 or email press@brewin.co.uk