Healthy dividends
UK listed companies paid out £37bn in shareholder dividends between April and June, up 38.6% from the same period last year, making Q2 the second largest UK dividend payout on record1.
Large one-off special payments were a key driver, but underlying dividends, which exclude these volatile specials, jumped by 27% to £32bn, boosted by weaker sterling.
Pausing pensions could be costly
Analysis2 has revealed that reducing or stopping pension contributions, even for a relatively short period of time such as a year, can have a significant impact on your final pension pot, with savers potentially being thousands of pounds less well off in retirement. Almost all (93%) of those surveyed said they are feeling the impact of increasing costs and inflation. Whilst 77% expect to have to make cutbacks on spending or saving, an encouragingly low figure of 6% said they would reduce their pension contributions.
1LINK Group, 2022
2Standard Life, 2022
It is important to take professional advice before making any decision relating to your personal finances. Information within this article is based on our current understanding and can be subject to change without notice and the accuracy and completeness of the information cannot be guaranteed. It does not provide individual tailored investment advice and is for guidance only. Some rules may vary in different parts of the UK.