Parties urged to back "savings manifesto"

Wednesday, 07 April 2010 10:41

By myfinances.co.uk staff

Following prime minister Gordon Brown's decision to call a general election on May 6th, one company has launched its own "savings manifesto" calling on all the main political parties to commit themselves to increasing the public's use of medium and long-term investment vehicles.

In the document, Fidelity International said that politicians should aim to build on the existing popularity of ISAs by introducing an annual bonus that would be paid when one of the accounts is opened and on each subsequent anniversary.

According to the company's figures, average annual ISA investment currently stands at approximately £37.5 billion.

Elsewhere, Fidelity said that the next government could encourage greater "whole-of-life" saving by providing greater incentives to transfer ISA savings to pension funds.

It also called for an annual £50,000 limit on pension contributions for all instead of the proposed tapering of payment limits for people earning over £150,000 a year.

Furthermore, the company said that scrapping compulsory annuity purchases for those above an index-linked threshold would provide savers with greater flexibility in retirement.

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