Financial Planner's Budget 2014 Panel: Alison Steed, consultant at Financial Services Media UK.

1. How do you rate this budget for Financial Planners?

This Budget is going to keep Financial Planners extremely busy, what with the rise in the annual Isa limits to £15,000 and the New Isa format which allows savers to put as much or as little as they want of this into stocks and shares or cash. Savers will also be allowed to transfer all existing Isas into one or the other if they wish, and the inclusion of peer-to-peer lending in Isa allowable investments will help to increase the variety of options available, and give a chance to boost returns in this increasingly popular sector. In addition, the major pension changes will provide a wide range of items that financial planners will not only need to address with clients, they will also need to educate clients about. The HMRC investigation into the misuse of EIS and VCT schemes could also keep financial planners busy.
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2. What are the positive elements for the FP community?

The measures announced will certainly make saving – whether for retirement or a rainy day – a much more appealing prospect for many Britons, and they will need help to make the most of this. The financial planning community is perfectly placed to assist them. The news that there will be even fewer people taking an annuity with their retirement fund, and that they will be able to increase the amount of drawdown they can take from their fund will also mean additional work for the financial planning community. It is a real opportunity for them to prove their professionalism in helping people make the most of their hard-earned savings whether that is in a pension, an Isa or other assets.

3. What are the negative elements?

We do not yet know exactly how this will be applied, but the free and impartial face-to-face "guidance" offered to people at the point of their retirement may not be good news for financial planners. It really depends on whether the Government thinks it can deal with this itself, or whether it will need and ask financial planners to be involved in this in some way. Potentially, this is a threat to business, but if it is done in conjunction with financial planners, it could also present an opportunity. We will have to wait and see.

Also, since many of the pension changes come in from next week, there is going to be a lot of communication needed between financial planners and their clients to ensure they are making the right decisions from the off. This is likely to put Financial Planners under considerable pressure.

4. Are there 2-3 specific budget changes (Financial Planning related ones) that you think journalists will be focused on following the announcement?

It is difficult to pin down to such a small number, but the major ones, clearly, are the change in the Isa rules and allowances, and the major changes to DC pensions legislation, which include the ability to take full drawdown of your pension pot at your marginal tax rate rather than the current 55% tax rate.

The third is a tougher one to gauge – I would think the most likely would be the rise in the personal allowance to £10,000 from April then to £10,500 from April 2015 and a rise in the higher rate threshold to help the "squeezed middle". Other possibilities though are the reduction in Air Passenger Duty which is something so many of us hate, 1p off a pint from next week, or the additional £200m to repair pot holes that will get a mention. The extra £140m to repair flood defences, given so many people are still suffering from the winter storms, may also be high on the list.

Of course, the UK is property obsessed, so the extension of Help to Buy until 2020 and the rise in Stamp Duty Land Tax to 15% for properties worth £500,000 or more bought through companies could feature, although the number of people affected by this latter move will be minimal.

5.What did George Osborne miss? What should have been in that wasn't?

Difficult to say, as until you go through all of the Budget paperwork, you never know what you might find that could or should have been addressed. One surprise though is that while peer-to-peer lenders will be eligible for Isa investment, the inclusion of crowdfunding platforms remains uncertain as the Government intends to 'explore' this. This will be a blow for those platforms, but they still have the chance to lobby for inclusion.

6. Give the Chancellor your marks out of 10

For now, this seems like a good Budget for savers, but as with every Budget the devil is in the detail, so it is likely that over the next few days and weeks we will find out the full impact of the changes, both good and bad.

But for now at least, I think I would give him a 7/10 for effort.