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Increased market confidence

Confidence in the stock market among private investors has risen 76% in the past year, according to Barclays Stockbrokers. Their recent survey reported that 67% of private investors were confident their investments would increase in value, and 60% said they planned to invest more in the next six months.

Drip feeding for the more cautious investor

The continued improvement in the stock market has led to a renewed interest in equities by private investors. The more cautious investors are deciding to limit their exposure to risk by drip feeding their outlay through a regular savings plan. This way they do not have to worry about whether markets fall days after they have invested a lump sum.
You are in effect buying fund units/shares at a lower average price, because they buy more when prices are low and fewer when they are higher. This is sometimes referred to as pound cost averaging because an investor is buying at both low and high points.

Sex discrimination

Sweeping plans to eradicate sex discrimination in areas ranging from medical insurance to pension payments are being drawn up by the European Commission.
The proposals could bring big changes to the way insurance premiums are calculated and increase the annuity payments made to women in retirement.
Women might expect to pay lower premiums for private medical care: they are currently assessed as having more care during their lifetime than men.
They might also expect to have higher pension annuity payments, since the current system assumes that men die earlier and should therefore get higher annual retirement payments.

Equity withdrawal on the rise

People cashed in on the rising value of their homes to the tune of £13.5bn in the first quarter of this year as mortgage equity withdrawal hit a record.
That was 67 per cent higher than in the same quarter a year earlier, and compared with a downwardly revised figure of £12.7bn in the final quarter of 2002.

Save as You Earn rewards employees

According to a recent report by the government, Save as You Earn (SAYE) share options are the most widely used of the various government-approved schemes to align employees' rewards with those of shareholders. There are currently 1,200 plans and 1.75m participating staff.

Postcode annuities

It is predicted that in the future there could be a stampede towards tailor-made annuities by life assurers who may reduce many rich investors' old age income.
One option being considered by the industry is selling "postcode annuities", under which investors living in wealthy places - who are often expected to live longer - get lower incomes.
Life expectancy can vary widely between regions and within specific areas, according to National Statistics. The life expectancy of a baby boy is 69.8 years in Manchester and 79.3 years in north Dorset.

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