Taxing Times
‘Top 5’ list of planning areas Making sure you use up any allowances you are entitled to is the first step to reducing the amount of tax you may be liable to pay. We’ve provided our ‘Top 5’ list of planning areas to consider before 5 April 2020, the end of the 2019/20...
Show me the money
Turning pensions into money you can use Today, you’ve got a number of options and permutations available when it comes to what to do with your pension in retirement. But lots of choice can also mean increased confusion. Your retirement might seem like a far-off...
Retirement longevity
Your destiny is now in your own hands If you are in your 50s or 60s, your thoughts are probably turning towards retirement. When should you retire? How much money do you need? In trying to answer these questions, you face a problem. Because of longevity trends, we are...
Choppy waters, not full-on gale
Wait for the bad weather to pass and stay the course Volatility fluctuates based on where we are in the economic cycle, but it is a normal feature of markets that investors should expect. When stock markets start correcting, daily injections of bad news may sound as...
Healthy, wealthy and well advised
Financial complexities of passing on wealth Passing on wealth is a sensitive subject, not just because of the financial complexities of it all, but also the emotion and family politics involved. Having built up their business or wealth, many families often wish to...
Goldilocks Economy
How to prepare your portfolio for inflation Very low or very high inflation is damaging to the economy. The aim is usually to try and keep the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) at 2% in order to maintain a ‘Goldilocks Economy’ – not too hot, not too cold. Over time,...
Stocks & Shares ISAs
Investing in a wide range of different tax-efficient investments Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) can be used to hold stocks and shares or cash, or any combination of these, up to the current annual limit. An ISA is a tax-efficient ‘wrapper’ that can be used to help...
Investment trusts
Making money by investing in other companies An investment trust is a public company that raises money by selling shares to investors, and then pools that money to buy and sell a wide range of shares and assets. Different investment trusts will have different aims and...