Some analysts have said the government should go further in encouraging people to save, for example by making pensions more flexible so workers can take some cash out if they need to or by increasing Isa allowances.
Some analysts have said the Government should go further in encouraging people to save, for example by making pensions more flexible so that workers can take some cash out if they need to or by increasing Isa allowances.
Andrew Symington Managing director, Symington Elvery Am I the only one to notice that the fiscal measures supposedly aimed at "Jams" (Easing austerity: Options for Hammond, 21 November) – air passenger duty cut, freeze on fuel duty, increased personal tax allowance, increased Isa limits – in fact benefit the better off as much if not more?
News of the increase to ISA savings limits lifted investment groups Hargreaves Lansdown, up nearly 1% at £13.04, St James's Place, 3.8% higher at 934.5p, and Brewin Dolphin, 0.5% better at 260.9p.
That suggests the measure to increase the Isa limit to £15,000 from July – along with the increase in the amount you can put into Premium Bonds – is aimed squarely at the well-heeled, who currently find the £11,520 limit unsatisfactory.
What about increasing the Isa limit?
Savers increased their Isa contributions by £20bn in 2015, but a law has had to be passed to make people save into a pension.
The chancellor bowed to pressure from some newspaper campaigns against the assault on older savers, caused by falling interest rates, by increasing the Isa limit for those over 50 from October.
Osborne has announced incentives for saving that he said would "put the next generation first" – an increase in the ISA limit to £20,000 and a new lifetime ISA for up to £4,000 per year.
On the subject of Isas the fund management industry can do little else but applaud the Isa increase.
