It’s still OK to do Film Studies!
“My children will individually be £50,000 in debt at the end of their three year university degree. They will now have to contend with 6.1% + per year of interest on the debt and so will struggle financially to pay off this sort of liability once they have completed their studies! We’ve decided that we […]
Pension freedoms: Should I stay or should I go?
What does flexibility, freedom and choice in terms of financial planning mean? I take this to mean, I can do what I want with my money, when I want, without prescription and perhaps most importantly I can afford to do this. We have received many calls over the course of the last few months where […]
How much do you need in your “sweetie jars”?
The earlier in age you start saving the greater the prospect of accumulating a sizeable sum of money for your retirement years. Our experience of dealing with clients suggests that a minimum comfort level of income in retirement is £18,000 per year; providing adequate income for essentials such as utility bills, food, basic clothing and […]
Peer to peer lending – better than cash rates, worse than cash risk
With rates of return on cash still at a low point and with little prospect of an immediate interest rate rise clients will continue to be attracted to possible alternative options offering a seemingly more compelling rate of return. This can sometimes lead to rather interesting telephone conversations: I’m going to invest £30,000 into Peer […]
Individual Protection 2014 – deadline approaching
The change to the pension Lifetime Allowance (LTA) from £1.25m to £1m has been widely reported, as has the ability to be able to preserve a higher allowance either through Fixed or Individual Protection 2016. These 2016 versions of protection, sit alongside six other types of protection that have been accumulated since April 2006; […]
Individual Protection 2014 – deadline approaching
The change to the pension Lifetime Allowance (LTA) from £1.25m to £1m has been widely reported, as has the ability to be able to preserve a higher allowance either through Fixed or Individual Protection 2016. These 2016 versions of protection, sit alongside six other types of protection that have been accumulated since April 2006; […]
Making retirement more comfortable
Active members of defined benefit or final salary schemes are sadly a dying breed but for those fortunate enough to still be building pension benefits in this way there are a number of options to fund further benefit accrual.
Making retirement more comfortable
Active members of defined benefit or final salary schemes are sadly a dying breed but for those fortunate enough to still be building pension benefits in this way there are a number of options to fund further benefit accrual. Additional Voluntary Contribution Plans These arrangements typically will have been set up with the buying power […]
Investing lessons from 114 years of data
The Barclays Equity Gilt Study is the UK’s leading source of data and analysis on long-term market returns. “Time in the market is more important than timing the market,” goes the old investment adage. In other words: it is very difficult to know when prices are likely to rise or fall, so most people will […]
What’s going on with our pensions? Pension consultation deferral
Possible changes to pensions following the most recent Pension Consultation initiated by George Osborne post his July 2015 Budget seem unlikely to see the light of day until March 2016 at the earliest. This suggests that any alterations are likely to be a little more radical than purely tinkering around the pension edges. As a […]
