Five things your clients will call you about this week

Working beyond the retirement age, an analysis of the latest tech bubble and equity income funds. It's IFAonline's round-up of the weekend's national newspapers.

Working Longer

Experts have been predicting it for a while and it seems the public is beginning to agree: a lot of us are going to have to work beyond the official retirement age.

The Mail on Sunday reported on a survey by MGM Advantage which showed 36% of those who have reached this age already expect to continue working for the foreseeable future, up from 9% a year ago.

Meanwhile, two-fifths of the entire working population are uncertain about when they will be able to give up their job, while more than half admit they are ‘not at all prepared' for retirement.

Equity income funds

With dividend levels on their way back to pre-crisis levels, the Sunday Telegraph had a look at how savers and investors can find income. Of course, buying dividend paying shares was one option, but perhaps more interesting was the idea of investing in equity income funds.

The paper highlighted the Neptune Income and Artemis Income funds, with current yields of 4.7% and 4.4% respectively, while it said the Newton Global Higher Income, with a current yield of 4.5%, offers more diversification.

Fixed rate mortgages

Are fixed rate mortgage deals going to get any better than they are at the moment? That was the question posed by the Sunday Times as it explained how the average five-year fix has fallen to 5.02%, the lowest level since before the credit crunch.

With Chelsea Building Society last week unveiling a five-year fix at just 3.39%, a number of experts predicted the market has now reached the bottom for fixed rates.

Junior ISAs

With the Treasury confirming the Junior ISA rules and a number of providers announcing their offerings at the end of last week, the Independent had a closer look at the new form of savings for children.

Deciding whether to go for a cash or investment ISA was identified as one of the biggest challenges, while the fact 18-year-olds will have access to potentially huge sums of case was an understandable worry.

Interestingly, the article also floated the idea of setting up a bare trust, where the investment is held in an adult's name and the proceeds beneficially owned by the child.

Tech bubble 2.0

Since the dotcom bubble burst at the turn of the century, it is understandable that investors have been wary of exposing themselves to technology shares.

The Independent on Sunday had a close look at the latest bubble, with the stellar performances of Apple and Google and the recent IPO of LinkedIn leading the charge.

Although the growth of the internet means the major companies now have bigger reach, the same worries remain about over-valuations and turning hype into profits.

...and you may just get a call on platforms. More on that later today (we hope)...