Latest news with #Isa
GMA Network
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- GMA Network
How Mikoy Morales asked Mikee Quintos to be 'best woman' at his wedding
Mikee Quintos shared how Mikoy Morales asked her to be the best woman at his upcoming wedding with Isa Garcia. On Instagram, the "Slay" actress posted videos of herself turning emotional while reading Mikoy's letter asking her to be his best woman. One touching line from Mikoy's letter read: "Naalala ko noong pangatlong kita naming ni Isa, sa'yo ko agad dinala—because you were the benchmark of what a partner for me should be kaya thank you for loving her." Mikee responded to the "Lolong" actor in her post's caption. "No matter how scary the jump is… You jump, I jump," she wrote. "I got you," she added. "Can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you and [Isa]!" Mikoy got engaged to Isa in February. He previously starred in the Metro Manila Film Festival Best Picture "Green Bones" and in the Kapuso historical series "Pulang Araw." In 2023, Mikoy won the Best Actor Award at the Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival for his role in "Tether." —Hermes Joy Tunac/MGP, GMA Integrated News
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Our pensions are no longer in safe hands
Labour's solemn election promise not to tax 'working people' has not aged well. Rachel Reeves promptly used her first Budget to unleash a jobs tax on employers that has helped to see unemployment rise and job vacancies wither. The Chancellor will argue that this is not a direct tax on workers' pay packets, but she will have been fully aware of the inevitable consequences: wage suppression and higher prices for consumers. But less than a year after winning power and it seems Labour has given up all pretences that workers do not face tax rises. This week, HM Revenue and Customs unveiled plans to explore a tax raid on pension contributions made via salary sacrifice work schemes. This would be a blatant and direct tax attack on our pay slips. The ideas on the table could cost the average earner more than £500 a year in extra income tax and National Insurance – and whittle away their pension pot and their retirement potential. The most unpalatable suggestion is stripping workers of both income tax and National Insurance relief on contributions. This would be nothing short of theft given retirees are now paying record amounts of income tax on their pensions and at record rates. Also this week, Reeves pushed ahead with plans to steer pension funds into investing a proportion of their holdings into British companies, with ministers wanting the power to force funds to comply if necessary. None of this is putting the saver's interests first. This all comes after warnings that the Chancellor could be forced to raise taxes by up to £30bn in the next Budget to fund benefit giveaways and the rising cost of borrowing. It now seems certain that pensions will be targeted again in the Autumn Budget. It would be the latest in a long line of pension tax raids mooted by this Government. Reeves has already unleashed an inheritance tax raid on retirement savings, and last year she was considering plans to slash the tax-free pension lump sum down to £100,000. As a rising star in the Labour Party, she also told of her ambition to reduce tax relief for higher earners and to put a lifetime cap on Isa contributions. This is on top of Angela Rayner's demands to reinstate the pensions lifetime allowance and to force more of us to pay the highest rate of income tax. This Government has so far proved unashamed in its entitlement to tax whatever it sees fit, but it is more worrying than that. Labour has shown a disregard for the security and confidence workers need when it comes to our retirement savings. Ministers have been at best naive and at worst incompetent, but the overarching message is that our pensions are no longer in safe hands. The goalposts could move at any point. Savers need incentives and assurance to put money away for retirement, and a failure to save will mean more pensioners falling back on the state. None of this meddling is helping anyone. And the dreadful truth is that these tax raids, for which the Chancellor will deflect blame, come after public sector workers were awarded inflation-busting pay rises and bigger pensions. The Chancellor is mollycoddling one part of Britain and exploiting another to pay for it. It's short-sighted politics at its very worst. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Leader Live
4 days ago
- Business
- Leader Live
High street bank branches are ‘thriving', Nationwide says
The building society has pledged to keep all of its nearly 700 branches open until at least the start of 2028. New data from the group revealed that nearly 200,000 more customers used its branches in the financial year to the end of March, compared with the prior year. It comes a day before Nationwide is set to unveil its full-year financial results. Muir Mathieson, Nationwide's chief financial officer, told the PA news agency: 'The branches are thriving. 'We're seeing the number of people going into branches going up, and we think part of that (increase) is that there are fewer branches on the high street now that our competitors have closed theirs.' Nationwide has the second-largest branch network in the UK, behind Lloyds Banking Group. But Lloyds has been making sweeping cuts to its network – with the most recently-announced closures to 136 branches taking place over the next year. Others have been drastically trimming their network, such as Santander announcing in March it would be closing more than a fifth of its high street branches, bringing it down to 349 across Britain. The banks say they are adapting to meet the behaviours of their customers, who increasingly want to do banking on their phones or online and are decreasingly using their high street sites. But Nationwide suggested that UK consumers have been switching their bank to Nationwide so that they can make use of in-person services. Customers want face-to-face contact particularly if they have concerns about fraud, or if they want reassurance about a specific process or account, Mr Mathieson said. 'Interestingly, we get larger Isa balances when people open them in a branch than when they do it online,' he told PA, indicating that people feel more comfortable handling bigger sums of money in a branch. About 40% of Isas were opened in branches last year, and more than 30% of new current accounts, according to data from the building society. About 5.7 million customers visited a branch at least once during the year. Nationwide's branch promise extended to Virgin Money after buying the rival bank for £2.8 billion last year in the biggest banking deal since the financial crisis. When it bought the lender, it paused Virgin's plans to close some of its branches and brought it into the group's branch promise. It has also been working to improve the bank's customer service systems since merging, after chief executive Debbie Crosbie said there were 'challenges' to overcome.
Powys County Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Powys County Times
High street bank branches are ‘thriving', Nationwide says
Nationwide Building Society has said its bank branches are 'thriving' with more customers coming through the doors over the past year as rival banks slash their high street network. The building society has pledged to keep all of its nearly 700 branches open until at least the start of 2028. New data from the group revealed that nearly 200,000 more customers used its branches in the financial year to the end of March, compared with the prior year. It comes a day before Nationwide is set to unveil its full-year financial results. Muir Mathieson, Nationwide's chief financial officer, told the PA news agency: 'The branches are thriving. 'We're seeing the number of people going into branches going up, and we think part of that (increase) is that there are fewer branches on the high street now that our competitors have closed theirs.' Nationwide has the second-largest branch network in the UK, behind Lloyds Banking Group. But Lloyds has been making sweeping cuts to its network – with the most recently-announced closures to 136 branches taking place over the next year. Others have been drastically trimming their network, such as Santander announcing in March it would be closing more than a fifth of its high street branches, bringing it down to 349 across Britain. The banks say they are adapting to meet the behaviours of their customers, who increasingly want to do banking on their phones or online and are decreasingly using their high street sites. But Nationwide suggested that UK consumers have been switching their bank to Nationwide so that they can make use of in-person services. Customers want face-to-face contact particularly if they have concerns about fraud, or if they want reassurance about a specific process or account, Mr Mathieson said. 'Interestingly, we get larger Isa balances when people open them in a branch than when they do it online,' he told PA, indicating that people feel more comfortable handling bigger sums of money in a branch. About 40% of Isas were opened in branches last year, and more than 30% of new current accounts, according to data from the building society. About 5.7 million customers visited a branch at least once during the year. Nationwide's branch promise extended to Virgin Money after buying the rival bank for £2.8 billion last year in the biggest banking deal since the financial crisis. When it bought the lender, it paused Virgin's plans to close some of its branches and brought it into the group's branch promise. It has also been working to improve the bank's customer service systems since merging, after chief executive Debbie Crosbie said there were 'challenges' to overcome.
Western Telegraph
4 days ago
- Business
- Western Telegraph
High street bank branches are ‘thriving', Nationwide says
The building society has pledged to keep all of its nearly 700 branches open until at least the start of 2028. New data from the group revealed that nearly 200,000 more customers used its branches in the financial year to the end of March, compared with the prior year. Nationwide said about 200,000 more customers used its branches in 2024 (David Parry/PA) More Stories It comes a day before Nationwide is set to unveil its full-year financial results. Muir Mathieson, Nationwide's chief financial officer, told the PA news agency: 'The branches are thriving. 'We're seeing the number of people going into branches going up, and we think part of that (increase) is that there are fewer branches on the high street now that our competitors have closed theirs.' Nationwide has the second-largest branch network in the UK, behind Lloyds Banking Group. But Lloyds has been making sweeping cuts to its network – with the most recently-announced closures to 136 branches taking place over the next year. Others have been drastically trimming their network, such as Santander announcing in March it would be closing more than a fifth of its high street branches, bringing it down to 349 across Britain. The banks say they are adapting to meet the behaviours of their customers, who increasingly want to do banking on their phones or online and are decreasingly using their high street sites. But Nationwide suggested that UK consumers have been switching their bank to Nationwide so that they can make use of in-person services. Customers want face-to-face contact particularly if they have concerns about fraud, or if they want reassurance about a specific process or account, Mr Mathieson said. 'Interestingly, we get larger Isa balances when people open them in a branch than when they do it online,' he told PA, indicating that people feel more comfortable handling bigger sums of money in a branch. About 40% of Isas were opened in branches last year, and more than 30% of new current accounts, according to data from the building society. About 5.7 million customers visited a branch at least once during the year. Nationwide's branch promise extended to Virgin Money after buying the rival bank for £2.8 billion last year in the biggest banking deal since the financial crisis. When it bought the lender, it paused Virgin's plans to close some of its branches and brought it into the group's branch promise. It has also been working to improve the bank's customer service systems since merging, after chief executive Debbie Crosbie said there were 'challenges' to overcome.
