Category: News

The Chancellor may have gone for the popular phrase from Chancellors of yore by taking ‘a penny off a pint’, but what were the real big announcements during The Budget 2014? We summarise the 8 main points: Read more …

The Chancellor may have gone for the popular phrase from Chancellors of yore by taking ‘a penny off a pint’, but what were the real big announcements during The Budget 2014? We summarise the 8 main points:

1. Changes to pensions mean many more options than just buying an annuity

In measures to be introduced in April 2015, pensioners will have complete flexibility on how much of their pension they want to take at retirement, effectively eliminating the need to buy an annuity. This opens up many more options for what to do with your pension in your retirement years. Read more …

Have you ever jumped into your car, started the engine and just driven aimlessly, with no thought of where you are headed? No, I thought not. It is amazing however, how many people take this approach with their investment assets. This will often involve huge sums of money that have taken many years of hard work and disciplined saving to accumulate.

Without a clear objective or idea of what you are trying to achieve, it is very difficult to bring meaning to your money. When posed with the question “What are you trying to achieve?” common answers include “Growth”, “Income” or even “Outperformance”. This is why it is important that financial planners reframe the question and talk in terms of aspirations, goals, dreams, beliefs and visions.

In the past, many financial advisers have concentrated their efforts and time on the money and not enough on their clients and their real fears and burning questions. Questions like “What do I need to do to ensure that I never run out of money?”, “How much do I need to earn, save or sell my business for to give me what I want out of life?”, “When can I afford to stop doing the things that have become a drag and start doing things I really enjoy?”, “What do I need to do to ensure that my family is totally financially secure, whatever happens?” and perhaps the biggest question of all is “How much is enough?”

Read more …

Company directors and owners of SMEs make plans and do forecasts all the time. Cash flow forecasts, SWOT analyses, plans for renewals and refurbishment; there’s hardly a day when they’re not eyeball to eyeball with a spreadsheet.

So why do so many of them fail to plan their own retirements properly? In our experience company directors and owners of SMEs are so wrapped up running their business that they often forget their own financial planning – or simply don’t see it as a priority. There is clearly a need for more directors to plan properly: why do so many of them fail to do so?

Over the years we’ve probably been given half a dozen answers when we’ve asked that question. As you’ll see, none of them really hold water…

Read more …

As 2014 begins, our minds may momentarily turn to those personal finance tasks that we have been putting off. So why not seize the moment and start the year with one or more of them cleared from your ‘can wait for another day’ pile. Here are our five top tips to get you started:

Read more …

This is the first part of a two part article, where we’ve taken a look at some of the common mistakes investors make when they’re buying and selling stocks and shares and other investments. We’ve identified ten mistakes – and this month, we take a look at the first five.

Read more …

Individual Savings Accounts

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has published a checklist for investors explaining changes to the way they get financial advice, ahead of the implementation of the Retail Distribution Review (RDR) on 31st December.

The changes to financial advice include clearer charges, clearer services and more professional advice.

Click the read more link below to see the changes in full.

We thought that clients and visitors to our site would find the following article interesting. It’s from the the NY Times website and it resonates with us and the approach we take with our clients.

We hope you enjoy.

To read the article, click the link http://tinyurl.com/cn6qap8

We thought you may be interested to read this article written by Warren Buffett. It supports our philosophy that investing in shares over the long-term is the only way to retain your purchasing power and negate the effects of inflation.

For the article, please click on the link.

http://tinyurl.com/893gxcs

For more on investing over the long-term read Slaying The Dragon Parts 1 and 2.