UK Pension Changes 2015

In the UK, pensions will be changing as of April 2015, read on to find out what it means.

As of April 2015 the UK will put into effect some changes to the ways pensioners can use their money, offering greater freedom than under the previous system.  Up until this time,  pensioners could take up to 25% of their pension pot tax free and with the remaining 25% had the following options:

Trivial Commutation - this only applies to those aged 60 and over who have overall pension savings of less than 18k.
Capped Drawdown - this allowed you to take an income from your pension with a maximum amount per year.  This limit would be based on 120% of an equivalent annuity.
Flexible Drawdown - with this option there is no limit to how much you can draw from your pot every year, but you must have a guaranteed income on excess of 20k per year when you retire.
Annuity - Under the current system most people end up buying an annuity, a bit like insurance, where a fixed amount is paid per year, usually for the remainder of your life.

Pension Freedom

Under the new system, from April 2015,  pensioners will be able to take as much as they want, with the first 25% remaining tax free as in the old system, any thing over this would be considered income and would be taxed accordingly. So, for example, if you have a pension of 100,000 you can draw down up to 25,000 tax free, anything over this would be taxed at the relevant rate (taking into account any other taxable income in the financial year).  See the table below for further examples:

 So, as you can see, this will offer people a lot more freedom with their pension pot.

For more detailed information on pensions visit Pensions Advisory Service.

San Sebastian in Javea 2015

San Sebastian is the patron saint of Javea, no-one really knows why but many believe is becuase he is the patron of stone masons and which is one of the traditional trades in the area.  Another theory says he saved the village from the 'black death' when he answered their prayers when the illness struck during medieval times.

San Sebastian was overtaken in the mid 1800's by Jesus Nazareno who is similarly believed to have cured the town of cholera.  In recent years the San Sebastian fiesta has been revived from a single parade followed by mass, to a full program of bulls in the street (Bous al Carrer).  This year this runs from Friday 23rd to Sunday 25th with three daily sessions at 12: 30h at 17: 30h and 22: 30h.  

On Saturday night there will be an 'embolat bou' (one of the bulls will have flaming horns) and some of the performances on Saturday are sponsored by businesses in the area as are the Imperial bar and Mi Lola. Both Saturday and Sunday there will be carts (fake bulls) for children at 12pm.

You can read about Javeas San Sebastian 2014 here with some photos of the action too.

Javea Fiestas - San Antonio Abad

San Antonio Abad - Fiesta Activities

If you ever wanted to get your pet hamster or snake blessed, then this weekend you should head on down to Javea for the Fiesta San Antonio Abad, where San Antonio will be honoured in this traditional fashion.

San Antonio

The Port

The activities begin on Saturday morning (17th January) at about 9:00am with a parade around the streets of the port accompanied by traditional music.  This is followed by mass and then the blessing of the animals.

Old town

In the pueblo, this day is spent preparing for the burning of the pine which occurs in the evening, accompanied by a brass band. Then on Sunday, also in the pueblo, there is a similar type of parade to  that of the previous day in the port, which starts (appropriately enough) in Calle San Antonio.  This culminates in the Plaza de la Constitución, where there will be another animal blessing session, followed by the parading of an image of San Antonio back to the street which bears his name.
There is usually some drinking and eating going on the whole time and it's great fun for all ages. 

Why Animals?

The reason for the blessing of the animals is that San Antonio is the patron saint of animals among many other things.  The reason for the burning of the pine is less clear however.