Family life brings joy, mess, love, chaos and everything in between. But, as your family grows, so do the financial complexities and expense. Protecting loved ones and building long-term wealth becomes a lot harder when it has to be balanced with buying a bigger house, funding education and helping children Read More >>
Cast your mind back to the early 2000s. Businesses of all kinds were growing quickly, technology was advancing and the opportunities felt endless. It was a decade for taking risks that for many, paid off handsomely. A lot of people left safe, salaried jobs and set up their own companies, Read More >>
When you think about retirement, what do you see yourself doing? Watching the sun set from the deck of a cruise ship, having fun with family and friends, playing with grandkids? All of the above? With good fortune on the health front, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t have years Read More >>
Are you a higher or additional rate taxpayer? Are you paying into a personal pension? We all know pension contributions attract tax relief. However, fewer people are aware that if you pay income tax at 40% or 45%, the automatic relief applied by the pension provider is not all you’re Read More >>
If you’ve had anything to do with the residential care sector, I’ve no doubt your eyes watered when the fees were discussed. The average cost of a care home place in the UK is more than £1,000 a week (in excess of £54,000 a year). Depending on the resident’s needs, Read More >>
We are urging people to review their inheritance tax (IHT) planning, now the new rules on how pensions will be treated have been clarified. Significantly more savers will be drawn into the IHT regime, as unused pension funds and death benefits are to be included in a deceased’s estate from Read More >>
I realise income protection is not a terribly exciting concept, but it is nonetheless important and something that is often overlooked. Safeguarding what you already have is one of the three main pillars of financial planning and essential to your wellbeing. Putting as little as five or ten percent of Read More >>
I read a news article recently that reported on a survey of paraplanners. It claimed only 6% of women, compared to 41% of the men surveyed, wanted to become financial advisers, despite being fully qualified or in the process of completing their exams. As an experienced financial planner, this worrying Read More >>
Most of the people I meet want financial advice and, therefore, know the value of saving for retirement. However, when we talk about putting income protection in place, it is seen as ‘dead money.’ This is what I say to anyone who is sceptical about safeguarding their earnings: There is Read More >>
I read an article in the Daily Telegraph recently that really pleased me. It basically affirmed the way we sequence retirement income and told the world it can save you thousands of pounds. In fact, it went so far as to put a figure on how much better off you Read More >>
