At last! A full house, ladies and gentlemen. For the first time since we started this bulletin all the major world stock markets moved resolutely upwards in February. Some by a little, some by a lot and some – step forward the UK – finally breaking through a previous high from the last century. Whether […]
It’s only two months ago – on December 3rd – that Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne delivered his Autumn Statement. But we’re now just a few weeks away from his last Budget before the General Election, which will be held on May 7th. When Osborne delivered his Autumn Statement he was relatively optimistic. Britain […]
The great thing about writing this bulletin is that you make a note of something which looks hugely significant around the middle of the month and then something else comes along which makes it pale into insignificance. In this case the ‘hugely significant’ event was the fall in UK inflation – what came along was […]
The new pension rules, coming into effect this April, will enable those over 55 to take as much money as they like out of their Defined Contribution (DC) schemes, at lower tax rates. In addressing the new system, Age UK has expressed concerns that some pensioners could use up their savings within ten years. The […]
For those of us with savings placed away in cash, it is not a great time for high interest returns. Most deposit accounts currently pay a very small rate of interest but there are still ways to build a savings nest egg and get a worthwhile return on your money. 1. Don’t forget to put […]
Everyone’s idea of what income is needed to provide you with an ‘acceptable standard of living’ in retirement is different. In addition, no estimate remains the same for long as prices and the cost of living change year-on-year. However here, drawing upon published material from Standard Life and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), we look […]
The 5th April might seem a little way off yet, but the end of the tax year always seems to arrive faster than we think! For financial planning, the end of the tax year is important for a variety of reasons and so, before we hit the deadline, put some thought into the following five […]
Originally announced during The Chancellor’s Budget speech in March 2014, the new so-called ‘pensioner bonds’ have now been launched. The rates for the bonds, announced only recently, will see them leading the bond marketplace, with the one-year bond offering 2.80% gross/AER and the three-year bond promising 4.00% gross/AER. The bond’s informal title comes from the […]
Did 2014 turn out to be a better than expected year for savers? According to a recent bulletin by Standard Life, the Autumn Statement by the Chancellor in early December rounded-off quite a year, with good news for ISAs and pensions. ISAs and pensions had already had a radical makeover in the April 2014 Budget, […]
Traditionally, December is a ‘slow news’ month. Like August, the great and the good spend a large part of the month on holiday and world events supposedly move slowly, if at all. Not so in 2014 – There was the Autumn Statement in the UK, the tumbling world oil price, the gloom over the Eurozone, […]