Business news live: Workers to save more into pensions and FTSE 100 to open near record levels

Sticking with pensions, the scale of people not saving enough is now coming more to light.

82 per cent of self-employed people aren’t saving anything into a pension fund at present.

Half of working-age people aren’t saving enough to hit retirement goals.

Even 48 per cent of people earning £67k or more aren’t saving enough for what they will need in retirement.

Scott Gallacher, director at wealth management firm Rowley Turton, said:

“This is a massive threat. Auto-enrolment got people started, but contribution levels are too low and haven’t kept up with reality,” said Gallacher. “We’re heading for a future where millions simply won’t have enough to live on.”

Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, said on Monday that almost half of the working age population “isn’t saving anything for their retirement at all”. She has revived the pensions commission, which last met in 2006, in a bid to determine how best to help workers after experts warned that people looking to retire in 2050 are on course to receive £800 per year less than current pensioners.

The scale of the issue cannot be underestimated.

Here’s what you need to retire – and four way to help you get there.

The system for regulating water companies should be overhauled and Ofwat replaced, a landmark review of the sector has advised.

The much-anticipated final report from the Independent Water Commission, led by former Bank of England deputy governor Sir Jon Cunliffe, outlined 88 recommendations to the UK and Welsh governments to turn around the ailing industry.

The Government-commissioned team was tasked to carry out the largest review of the sector since privatisation in the face of widespread public anger over pollution, bills and bosses’ bonuses, although ministers ruled out nationalising water companies.

Water minister Emma Hardy told broadcasters on Monday that the system is “broken”, but did not commit to how many of the 88 suggestions would be accepted by Whitehall.

Futures markets show American stocks rising when the market opens later today.

The Nasdaq is at 0.28 per cent up ahead of trading, with the S&P 500 following close behind.

That’s despite Germany and France seeming to strike a tone which is more in favour of launching counter-offensives against the US, related to tariff talks.

They have a lot in common: they’re both tax-efficient, they hold a similar range of investments – Lifetime ISAs are a little more restricted – and most compellingly, contributions to either are topped up by 25 per cent, albeit in different ways.

At first glance, it may seem that you could pay the same amount into one or the other and they would deliver an equal income in retirement. This isn’t the case.

Here’s a look at which could provide a higher income for you, and why.

The co-founder of Wise has criticised the fintech firm’s “inappropriate and unfair” governance changes within plans to move its primary stock market listing from the UK to the US.

Taavet Hinrikus wrote a letter to shareholders through his investment vehicle Skaala Investments OU, which owns 5.1% of shares in Wise.

The letter criticised the company’s proposals to move its primary listing to a stock exchange in the US, but also to extend the voting rights of so-called Class B shareholders by another decade.

A dual-class shareholding structure means the Class B shareholders have more than 90% of the voting rights.

Such structures have faced criticism that they give minority stakeholders an oversized voting power over a company’s proposals.

If you’re self-employed, when was the last time someone talked to you about pensions? Chances are, probably not very recently.

However, research from NEST Insights shows that more than half of self-employed people in the UK – which includes freelancers, sole traders and limited company owners – are on track to experience retirement poverty. This compares to just a quarter of full-time employees.

Why has it happened and what can you do to change that?

Fintech firm Revolut are building their new headquarters in Paris and say they’ll be opening up 400 jobs, spread across France, Spain, Ireland, Germany and Portugal.

At least half will be based out of the HQ, as the banking company looks to establish itself for a French licence.

Revolut was founded in London but has expanded globally. No confirmation is in place where the company might IPO in future though it is thought to prefer a Nasdaq listing rather than in the UK.

There is still no clear-cut deal between the US and the EU for a trade deal, with a 30 per cent blanket rate set to be applied next month on exports to the States from the bloc.

Howard Lutnick says it’s a hard deadline and the commerce secretary added he was confident a deal would be done beforehand – but the EU are readying a response all the same.

Last week they said a 30 per cent tariff would effectively wipe out all trade between the two.

The EU wants a similar deal to the UK starting at 10 per cent, with some exemptions.

The FTSE 100 opened higher but has given up some of those earlier gains, now sitting on a 0.05 per cent rise in mid-morning.

It’s a similar story on the continent, with the German DAX opening up but now flat for the day and France’s CAC 40 dropping 0.2 per cent.

Overnight, Japan’s stock market took a hit with a drop of 0.21 per cent but there were rises for the Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite, both around 0.7 per cent.