The Government is introducing workplace pension reforms from October 2012, and every employer will need to prepare for these changes.
As a company director or business owner, it is your obligation to understand what a Qualifying Workplace Pension Scheme (QWPS) is, what the process will be, how it will work, what duties you must comply with to support the new QWPS and, perhaps most importantly, when to take action.
You will ultimately be required to contribute 3% of qualifying earnings between £5,035 and £33,540 and your employee will have to contribute 4%, which, together with tax relief of 1%, will make a total of 8%. These amounts are being phased in over a four year period.
If you have an existing pension scheme, it may be that this can be used to meet your obligations. If it doesn’t or you don’t have a scheme in place, then you will need to decide how best to meet the requirements of the pension reforms.
Request a call from a St. James's Place Partner to find out how we can help.
The death or serious illness of a key director or employee can have far-reaching or even disastrous consequences for a business.
This can result in:
- Loss of profits
- The recall of loans
- Reduced capacity
- Loss of key clients/contacts
- Reduced practical know-how
Having the correct insurances in place and making sure that they are regularly reviewed and updated as your business changes can be a particularly onerous task.
Your St. James's Place Partner will introduce you to a specialist corporate team who will undertake an in depth review of your business and work with you to implement a tailored insurance programme to protect your business from a wide range of risks.
Download our guide to Creating Financial Independence (PDF) for further information for business owners and directors, or alternatively contact us to find out more.
As a shareholder your focus is on working with your fellow shareholders to make your business successful.
If you were to die, would your beneficiaries share the same goals for the business? Your fellow shareholders may have to work with partners who have little or no interest in the business and your beneficiaries will own shares with no ready buyers.
Your St. James's Place Partner will identify your requirements and discuss potential solutions that will provide your fellow shareholders with the means to purchase your shares and allow your beneficiaries to realise the market value of your shareholding.
Request a call from a St. James's Place Partner to find out more.
Having an effective benefits and remuneration strategy that is clearly communicated and appreciated by your employees can really help you to retain and recruit high calibre employees.
Your St. James's Place Partner will take the time to fully understand your business and how a cost effective strategy will dovetail with your business plans before making a recommendation. They will provide you with advice from a range of product providers carefully selected and monitored by St. James's Place.
This advice can focus on any of the following topics:
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Online total reward statements – helping your employees to understand and appreciate the cost of the benefits you provide
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Flexible benefits – allowing employees to create a benefits package that meets their own individual needs enabling you to respond flexibly to the varying benefits requirements of potential recruits
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Salary sacrifice arrangements – facilitating employee access to tax efficient benefits whilst at the same time reducing employers' National Insurance costs
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Private medical insurance – ensuring your employees' health and wellbeing and reducing their absence from work waiting for medical treatment
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Group Life, Income Protection and Critical Illness – these are important benefits that not only form a key part of a comprehensive employee benefits package but also enable you to manage your business more effectively
Request a call from a St. James's Place Partner to find out more.
If you are running a successful business, how can you use that to generate financial security in retirement?
We have a range of potential solutions that will provide both you, and your employees, with tax efficient retirement benefits.
Some of the areas we can discuss with you are:
- Stakeholder arrangements and group pension plans for your colleagues and employees – an attractive recruitment tool as well as a justifiable business expense
- Salary sacrifice arrangements that will provide cost effective pension planning opportunities for employees whilst reducing employer National Insurance costs
- Pension arrangements enabling you and your family to reap the rewards from the success of your business
- Trustee based arrangements that offer a cost effective solution for trustees to transfer the scheme liability to a new pension arrangement, thereby securing employee pension rights
Request a call from a St. James's Place Partner to find out more.