Following an in depth study conducted by the National Centre for Social Research (NCSR) and the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), it has been discovered that only one in four people making financial gifts are aware of the risks of inheritance tax. Further to this, they found that only 45% of gifters reported being aware […]
Diversification is a word that seems to get tossed around a lot in conversations around savings and investment. We hear it often, but what does it mean? Put simply, diversification is a risk management strategy that mixes a variety of investments within a portfolio. Through having different kinds of assets in a portfolio, the goal […]
How is your financial wellbeing? Increasingly, people are talking about financial wellbeing. But what does it actually mean? Financial wellbeing is about having a sense of confidence and security around money. It’s about having enough money to meet everyday needs and being in control of your finances; having the financial freedom to make choices that […]
Introduction October was, to put it mildly, an eventful month. It was a month which saw the majority of markets on which we report down steeply, as fears of higher interest rates in the US combined with worries about the US/China trade war. There was, however, one market that went up sharply: Brazil elected a […]
For some investors, stocks and shares are just not enough. Much of the investment appeal lies in the possibility of owning something truly spectacular, rather than achieving maximum returns. It’s often this that propels people to enter the rather unusual asset class of fine art. ‘Girl with Balloon’, a painting by the Bristolian street artist […]
Introduction The New Chancellor For the last six years, the government’s Budget and Autumn Statement have been synonymous with George Osborne – but as we all now know, the former Chancellor fell victim to Theresa May’s post-Brexit reshuffle. In fact, with his Tatton constituency likely to be impacted under the proposed boundary changes, our former […]
Just like back on 23 June, we have woken up to an electoral outcome few commentators thought possible. Donald Trump has won one of the most acrimonious presidential elections battles in recent US history. He will become the most powerful man on the planet and the leader of the world’s largest economy. Asian stock markets […]
Research from the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) surrounding wealth in the UK has been making headlines in recent months. The study has found that people born during the 1980s are now half as wealthy as those born in the 1970s were at the same stage in their lives. This makes children born during the […]
The latest figures surrounding the pensions lifetime allowance (LTA), which governs how much your pensions can be worth without triggering an extra tax charge, suggest that a considerable number of middle-income earners are being hit by the lower threshold. The amount collected from pensions exceeding the LTA by HMRC during the 2015-16 tax year came to […]
Introduction September was the month when nothing much happened on the world’s stock markets. Three of the 11 major markets on which we report were up, three were unchanged and five were down – but none of them by very much. The UK led the way, albeit only up 2%, while Japan and China were […]