Pensions for stay at home parents
Could you survive on £8,000 a year or less, in retirement? If you’ve given up work to look after your family, you’ll be among those... Learn More
Thinking of fixing your mortgage?
If you think an increase in your mortgage repayments could have a negative impact on your lifestyle or financial wellbeing, you may want to consider... Learn More
What’s the cost of a comfortable retirement?
Have you ever stopped to think about the monthly income you’d need to provide for a comfortable retirement? If you’re thinking it would be the... Learn More
Are Cash ISAs worth the investment?
After the Bank of England (BoE) cut interest rates to reassure the market following the Brexit vote, cash ISA returns plummeted. According to Telegraph... Learn More
Business Survival Planning
If something happened to you, your co-owners or employees, could your business survive? A study by Legal and General shows 40% of businesses would fold... Learn More
The downside of downsizing
The decision to sell up and move to a smaller property could come as a result of children flying the nest, the need to free... Learn More
Inflation: This time it’s personal
Much is made about the impact of inflation on the ‘real’ value of your income and investments. That is, the impact inflation has on your... Learn More
Time for an upgrade?
Have you upgraded your mobile phone in the past two years? If the answer’s yes, your choice may have been driven by a change in... Learn More
The new £1m Inheritance Tax allowance
In the wake of the 2015 General Election, the Conservative Party confirmed it would deliver on its Manifesto promise that parents could pass their property... Learn More
First-time savers
The news is always full of stats about first-time buyers: in 2016 there were an estimated 335,750 first-time buyers – the highest figure since 359,900... Learn More
Pensions for stay at home parents
Could you survive on £8,000 a year or less, in retirement? If you’ve given up work to look after your family, you’ll be among those... Learn More
The value of mortgage advice
With so many mortgage lenders offering their products on the high street and online, it can be tempting to cut out the middleman and ‘go... Learn More
Risk Vs Reward
While homeowners can still benefit from low mortgage rates, savers will be struggling to enjoy any kind of growth on money they have on deposit,... Learn More
Achieving your financial goals
We lead complex lives in an increasingly complex world. As financial planning experts we can help you better understand your financial challenges, goals and needs,... Learn More
The value of mortgage advice
With so many mortgage lenders offering their products on the high street and online, it can be tempting to cut out the middleman and ‘go... Learn More
Saving for retirement: as easy as 123
Much is made of the tax benefits of saving into a pension scheme but there are other benefits to consider. As many corporate pension schemes... Learn More
Protection through the years
When it comes to protection insurance, we hold two firm beliefs: it should form the foundation of your financial plan. cover should be reviewed regularly... Learn More
Pension death benefits
With the introduction of pension freedoms in 2015, we now have a range of options when deciding how to fund our retirement. But few of... Learn More
Winter accident protection
The cold and icy conditions of winter bring with them a greater risk of people injuring themselves when out and about. Outside risks Now the... Learn More
Parent Landlords
With house prices rising faster than salaries, the younger generation face having to find a much bigger multiple of their income to buy a home,... Learn More
What makes a good Buy to Let investment?
With property prices continuing to rise, Buy to Let can be an attractive way to invest. But whether buying your first Buy to Let property,... Learn More
Warm your pipes this winter
Make sure you avoid expensive damage caused by frozen and burst pipes by following our top tips for winter survival. If a pipe containing water... Learn More
New Year’s resolution
Many of us will have over-indulged during the festive season and will start the new year wanting to get healthier. Whether it’s stopping smoking, losing... Learn More
More People Owning Their Own Home
The latest English housing survey, released on 21 July 2016, shows that the number of people owning their own home has stopped reducing for the... Learn More
How to Save for the Retirement You Want
For most, during working life, financial well-being will depend on whatever they do to earn money. However, as well as securing the living standards you... Learn More
The Value of Financial Advice
Everyone is unique. We all think – and work – differently. Some people are good with words, and others, numbers. The same might be true... Learn More
Your Financial Countdown When Moving House
Moving house can be a very stressful time, packing and unpacking and making sure that children, pets and prized belongings make it to the new... Learn More
Essential Planning For Retiring Abroad
If your dream retirement is somewhere with more sunshine and less rain than the UK, then it may be time to ask yourself “how will... Learn More
When Can I Retire?
“How much do I need for my retirement” is arguably one of the most serious questions facing a working-age adult. The answer ultimately depends on... Learn More
Putting A Buy To Let Investment To Good Use
For many of us, financial uncertainty seems to be a key feature of life; saving and investing for the future in a time of low... Learn More
Save Like The Young Ones
Saving for a rainy day is what lets you buy an umbrella to keep you dry until the rain passes. Alternatively you may be saving... Learn More
Would You Want A Mortgage In Your 90’s?
Most mortgage borrowers aim to make sure their home loan is paid off by the time they retire. The idea of repaying a mortgage without... Learn More
Raise Money: Downsize To A Smaller Property
Your current home may well be the place where some of your happiest memories were created. Realistically, however, downsizing may be an excellent way of... Learn More
More Accessible Investing With Social Media
In the past ten years social media has become so all pervading that it seems to have seeped into every area of work and personal... Learn More
Flood Risk – Check Your Insurance
One of the grim inevitabilities of the winter months in Britain is the prevalence of flooding. Britain has experienced several years of above average rainfall... Learn More
Get To Grips With Your Pension Lifetime Allowance
As the song goes “I got bills, I gotta pay, so I’m gon’ work, work, work every day.” At some point however, people may want... Learn More
Is Life Insurance Still An Asset For The 50+?
Most people start families in their 20s or 30s and this is also the first time they think about family protection, life insurance and making... Learn More
Do You Qualify For The New State Pension?
If you reach state pension age on or after 6th April 2016 then you will come under the rules for the new state pension. Here... Learn More
Should We Be Ditching Cash?
Apple Pay has now arrived in the UK. Paypal has now outgrown eBay. Visa Europe is said to be in talks to be bought back... Learn More
Something For First Time Buyers To Think About
In the past ten years Britain has experienced a property boom, a property crash and a dramatic change in the housing market, making it harder... Learn More
China’s Crash: How Will It Affect You?
They say that when China sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold. So when China suffered the financial equivalent of a massive heart... Learn More
What Next For Inflation?
The UK has now experienced deflation for the first time since records began in 1996. The Office for National Statistics believes that the last time... Learn More
Guide To House Buying Jargon
When you buy a house, you hear lots of unusual terms. Here are our ‘dictionary’ definitions of terms used when buying a house to help... Learn More
Does It Make Sense For Britain To Quit The EU?
However it is eventually phrased on the ballot paper, the underlying question is essentially the same. “Should Britain stay in the EU?” Sometime between now... Learn More
A Matter Of Life And Death
There is one topic that no one likes to think about – death. And yet, it is something that we must prepare ourselves for in... Learn More
10 Things To Do To Get Your Finances Ship Shape
As spring moves into summer, people can start to think about their physical shape and how good they look in their holiday clothes. How about... Learn More
How Pension Changes Affect Everyone
In the past three years there have been dramatic changes to the way people save for their pensions in the UK and the role that... Learn More
Ten Financial Tips For New Graduates
With university fees of up to £9,000 a year and predictions that students might be paying back their loans in their 50’s, financial planning after... Learn More
How The Rich Get Richer
What have the philosopher Pierre Bourdieu and the finance advice guru Robert Kiyosaki got in common? They both know how and why some people accumulate... Learn More
Have You Made Your Will Yet?
After a lifetime of saving and prudence, you may well have accumulated a great deal of personal financial wealth that will outlast you. However, without... Learn More
Tips For A Cautious Investor
With interest rates offering little to get savers excited, now may be a good time to look at other options. If you are a first... Learn More
Want To Pay Less Tax? Ideas To Help Reduce The Amount You Pay
Paying tax is an onerous duty and one we all wish we didn’t have to do.
Can You Get A Mortgage Before The House Is Built?
How do you find your dream home? Well that depends on what your dream home is.
How Divorce Could Affect Your Retirement Income
“Breaking up is never easy” but sometimes it’s the best you can do. The Abba hit “Knowing Me, Knowing You” was released in 1976. A... Learn More
2015 Extra Budget Review
The first Conservative budget since 1996 was eagerly awaited by some and dreaded by others. Freed from the restraining hands of the Lib Dems, George... Learn More
Summer Budget Bulletin
Read Here our Summer Budget Bulletin Budget Bulletin – Summer 2015
Thinking Of Buying A Second Property?
The dramatic increase in the cost of properties in the past decade has placed house buying out of the reach of significant sections of society.... Learn More
Will You Be A Silver Entrepreneur?
Retirement isn’t what it used to be. A century ago, when old age pensions were first introduced, life expectancy was far lower than it is... Learn More
Questions The Budget Needs To Answer
George Osborne was last seen holding the famous red briefcase in March. On that occasion he was delivering a coalition budget. The new “emergency budget”... Learn More
Will The Next Budget Be Radical?
On 8th July 2015, George Osborne will deliver the first completely Conservative budget since Kenneth Clarke in 1996. Given that George Osborne delivered his last... Learn More
Will You Get The Full State Pension?
In the Jane Austen novel Emma, the main character, Emma Woodhouse wittily describes the difference between being rich and being poor in old age. Emma... Learn More
Use Your ISA Allowance Or Lose It
The phrase “use it or lose it” is very relevant to your savings.
Increase Your Savings Vs Paying Your Mortgage Off Early
We will explore the various options of home owners and savers.
What Are The Alternatives To Annuities?
It seems that wherever one looks in the media at the moment a commentator, government minister or journalist is stepping forward to tell us how... Learn More
Should I Fix My Mortgage Now?
Deflation is not all it is cracked up to be. Recently, as we cheered at the big fall in fuel prices, the fact that several... Learn More
What’s My Pension Worth?
It’s hard to argue about the importance of saving for old age. Those still of working age need to look at how they are going... Learn More
Why Do I Need Life Insurance?
No matter what anyone tells you, you don’t need life insurance. Like the old saying goes “you can’t take it with you”. Once you’re dead,... Learn More
Will I Benefit From The Pension Reforms If I’m Already Retired?
One issue in the world of personal finance has dominated the headlines for months; the changes to Britain’s pensions industry that will have profound implications... Learn More
How To Profit From Deflation
It seems like a world away now, but the 1970s and 1980s both saw periods of double digit inflation, where prices rose at one point... Learn More
Find My Pension
Some things are so easily lost. Car keys, mobile phone, wallet, or you entire financial future. At any given time a staggering five million people... Learn More
The Help To Buy ISA Explained
This blog is focused on explaining the complexities of the help to buy ISA
Why Are Mortgage Approvals At 6 Month High?
The Mortgage Market Review, which took effect in 2014, imposed “affordability criteria” on lenders. In simple terms it aimed to rein in high-risk mortgages. Like... Learn More
Protect Your Portfolio
This effect of change in the performance of the stock exchange can often be noticed around election times in general, so you might want to... Learn More
Life Insurance Made Simple
“Expect the unexpected” may be an old cliché but the unexpected can and does happen. Hoping that it happens to someone else is a very... Learn More
The Theory of Every Asset
Physics is a more exact science than finance, and judging by recent Oscar nominations, it’s often more romantic and glamorous. Stephen Hawking, one of the... Learn More
Fancy Retiring to an Exotic Marigold Hotel?
In the UK today often people consistently put away too little money each month to fund the cost of their retirements. Too many people simply... Learn More
You Can Invest In Property With Buy to Let
Back in the day Ten years ago, nearly every TV show across a wide range of channels was property related. Not only was it cheap,... Learn More
Thoughts For First Time Buyers
If you have never taken out a mortgage before, this blog is aimed at giving you a balanced and informed view of your options and... Learn More
So You’ve Found The House, How Soon Can You Move In?
While having an offer on a house accepted may be a cause for celebration, it is actually a fairly early point in the procedure for... Learn More
Cashing In On The New NISA
For decades now, successive governments have aimed to encourage saving. Arguably it is very much in their interests to do so. People with savings, pretty... Learn More
Protecting Your Family If You Are Too Ill To Work
For some of us, a good proportion of our time is spent avoiding thinking about difficult or uncomfortable things. Tax bills, medical checkups, dealing... Learn More
How Much Should You Take Out Of Your Pension Pot?
No one is as wise, prudent or capable of self restraint as they think they are. When we think of a large sum of money,... Learn More
How To Benefit From Low Oil Prices
As the old saying goes – what goes up must come down. Recently oil prices have been coming down quite spectacularly. This has naturally raised... Learn More
How To Benefit From The New Pension Rules
Here’s an unsettling mortal thought: When do you think you are going to die? It’s a question we generally seek to avoid, though thanks to... Learn More
Is A Self Invested Pension Right For You?
In the past year, due to pensions reform, the UK pensions market has undergone radical change and savers will have more autonomy and more choices... Learn More
When Did You Last Check Your Credit Rating?
Whether or not you realize it, Experian, Equifax and Callcredit all have a huge impact on everyday life in the UK. They are the “big... Learn More
What The General Election Means For Your Wealth
With the General Election now less than 100 days away, the contenders are throwing their economic hats into the ring. Although none of the 3... Learn More
How To Protect The Value Of Your Home
A decade ago, adding value to most properties was simplicity in itself, you simply bought a house and waited. This was during an unsustainable housing... Learn More
When You Need Financial Advice
Human beings, in general, are notoriously bad at calculating risk and weighing up reward, it’s almost hard wired into us. Our survival, millennia ago, was... Learn More
Don’t Leave It Too Long To Get Life Insurance
Life insurance can make the difference between people being able to focus on dealing with grief and people being forced to confront harsh financial realities... Learn More
NISAs – End of Year, Part 2
If one of your New Year’s resolutions for 2015 was to improve your finances and ensure that you maximise your savings, the new tax year... Learn More
Mortgage Options for Pensioners
The concept of making mortgage payments after retirement age may be a new reality for some people. When looking at this situation, be aware that... Learn More
NISAs – End of Year, Part 1
As the end of the financial year approaches in April, taking stock of the performance of your savings is an essential task for anyone who... Learn More
Preparing for Your Children Leaving Home
The late 1980s TV series “Home to Roost” saw Henry Willows (John Thaw) have his life turned upside down after his 18-year-old son Matthew came... Learn More
Getting The Most From The Pension Reforms
The private pensions market has undergone a period of rapid and intensive change in the past year. In the next two years state pensions will... Learn More
Will We See The Return of Interest-Only Loans?
There are two basic parts to any loan. One part is the sum borrowed, sometimes known as the capital. The other part is the fee... Learn More