Boost your State Pension whilst doing something with someone you love
The average cost of providing full time childcare in the UK now runs at around £260 per week*1 and this will be more in London. For working adults this cost needs to be funded out of net pay, so take home pay after National Insurance (NI) and Income Tax. Earnings would need to be around […]
Should I buy an electric car?: the misconceptions
One of the points of existence in purchasing an electric car is people tend to think there is a hassle factor due to charging. It is true that charging does lead to different behaviours, but having lived with an electric car for the best part of two years, I have never been to a petrol […]
Which type of budget do you have?
When we picture a budget, we may imagine the Chancellor of the Exchequer holding up a red brief case outside 11 Downing Street. Of course, the national budget is important as it provides a blueprint of any changes in taxation, government spending and forecasts for the UK economy. Besides voting, there is very little we […]
Beware of the boiler room scams
I am sure that many feel that they are well aware of financial scammers and are alert to emails and telephone calls that tell of packages not being delivered, cures and vaccines for COVID, or bogus pension and investment opportunities, however according to UK Finance, the representative body for the UK Banking and Finance industry, […]
With access to Online Platforms and fund research, do I need a Financial Adviser?
It is easy to think investing is just a matter of picking the best funds to grow your money and with modern technology, the information to do this is accessible to all. However Financial Planning is more than this. It starts by knowing a client’s goals and objectives and then setting up a plan to […]
Why is an LPA important when in drawdown?
Why is a financial Power of Attorney particularly important when in income drawdown? I have previously written about why it is important to have a Power of Attorney, irrespective of age. I am now going to look more specifically at the importance of having one in place if your pension fund is in drawdown. First […]
What Do I Do When My Financial Adviser Can’t Cope
What Do I Do When My Financial Adviser Can’t Cope The financial press have seen what appears to be an increasing number of articles on financial advisory firms that have been having service issues, typically caused by the departure of financial advice and administration staff. As someone who understands the financial services profession, I gather […]
Top tips to help you get the most from your financial adviser
Top tips to help you get the most from your financial adviser You have made the decision to engage with a financial adviser and ideally, you only want to make the choice of which financial adviser just the once. It is therefore important to make sure you get the most from your chosen financial adviser. […]
Pension Death Benefits for Vulnerable Beneficiaries
Pension Death Benefits for Vulnerable Beneficiaries The pension freedoms that were introduced in April 2015 improved the death benefits on pensions. For the first time it was possible for individuals to nominate that their pension fund would pass to anyone on death, rather than to dependants only which had chiefly been the case before 2015. […]
An increase to self-employed national insurance? Be careful what you wish for!
The Chancellor’s budget makes provision for a £360m cost for the abolition of Class 2 National Insurance Contributions (NICs) from 2018; with the self-employed moving to the same single tier state pension as employed individuals. Although the phasing out of Basic and Second State Pensions is a total con for most people in the UK, the […]
