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Self-Employed lack protection
Just 4% of self-employed workers have income protection in place, leaving the majority vulnerable to financial difficulties if they are suddenly forced to stop working through illness or accident. In its survey of more than 9,000 adults, LV= identified the...
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How secure is your business?
Business protection is a crucial element in a company's financial future, but how many have cover in place? Research by Legal & General in their State of the Nation’s Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) report has found: 53% of businesses would cease...
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Changing rooms
When it comes to selling your house first impressions count, and that starts with kerbside appeal. Start with free Before spending any money, have a look around your property to see what improvements you can make that won’t cost a penny. If you have a garden, plants,...
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Long-term investors needn't fear volatility
You may have read in the press that markets have been particularly volatile in 2018. But what does this mean for your investments? While stories about stock market falls are guaranteed to make headlines, the subsequent rebounds in prices get less coverage; and that’s...
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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, and help you find appropriate ways to meet them. Even a seemingly straightforward financial goal can...
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A Matter Of Trusts
Taking out a life insurance policy gives you valuable peace of mind: you know you’ve protected your family against financial hardship, should the worst happen. But how can you make sure your policy will pay out quickly, to those who’ll need it most, if you died...
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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 up to the value of £1m to their children free of Inheritance Tax, thanks to a new ‘family home allowance’. The...
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Who Should Inherit Your Wealth?
Wills are for anybody with assets who love someone or something more than they love the government. This includes young people, who, sadly, can die unexpectedly. The simple fact of the matter is that we come into this world with nothing and what we accumulate in this...
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Become a Superhero in the eyes of our family
When he was younger one of my son’s favourite questions was; “if you could have any super power, what would it be?” He loved the idea of being a Superhero. I think, deep down, we all like the idea of being a Superhero. Being able to do things others can’t; amazing...
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Self-Employed lack protection
Just 4% of self-employed workers have income protection in place, leaving the majority vulnerable to financial difficulties if they are suddenly forced to stop working through illness or accident. In its survey of more than 9,000 adults, LV= identified the...
read more
Shining a light on home insurance
Home and contents insurance seems to be a mystery to many households according to research by the Co-Op, which found more than five million have no cover despite the average value of contents reaching almost £40,000. On the face of it, this type of insurance seems...
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Barriers to protection
According to an online survey of 2,000 adults by Royal London, half of those surveyed believe life insurance is essential for someone with a mortgage or dependants and yet only 60% of people with a mortgage have life cover. While 60% of those surveyed with a mortgage...
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Standard Variable Rate
The average homeowner moving from a specific mortgage deal onto their mortgage provider’s Standard Variable Rate (SVR) could save more than £2,500 a year in interest payments simply by remortgaging. SVR is the type of mortgage you’re most likely to revert to at the...
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Is your Help to Buy mortgage deal ending?
Since its launch in April 2013 more than 145,000 properties have been bought using the Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme. Five years on and the interest-free element of the loan is due to end, with homeowners potentially facing expensive fees. The Help to Buy Equity Loan...
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What life insurance is best for your joint mortgage?
When you take out a mortgage we would always recommend you take out appropriate life insurance too, so that you know your monthly mortgage payments are covered if things go awry. If you’re buying on your own, a single life insurance plan will probably do the trick,...
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Offset mortgages explained
With interest rates remaining low, you might want to consider an offset mortgage. This combines your mortgage and savings into one account and, rather then pay interest on the savings, the savings balance is deducted from the loan amount and you pay interest on the...
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Savers in the dark about their pension
Are you among the 30.4 million working-age people who don’t know if their pension pot will be big enough to afford a comfortable lifestyle in retirement? According to a report by the Pension and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA), some of the blame for this worrying...
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The search for a reliable retirement income
It’s been almost four years since the April 2015 pensions changes which scrapped compulsory annuities and gave pensioners greater choice over how to take their retirement income. This historic change to UK pension legislation opened up a range of investment...
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The Gender Pension Gap
If you overheard a conversation about the gender gap, you might automatically think about it in terms of pay, given the relatively recent requirement for firms with more than 250 employees to disclose their pay data. What is less well known though is the gender...
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Auto enrolment contributions
The introduction of automatic enrolment in 2012 has led to a record high in pension participation, with more than 9.5 million people enrolled through the scheme. But contributions are at minimum levels, ONS data has shown The number of employees who contribute to a...
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Savers in the dark about their pension
Are you among the 30.4 million working-age people who don’t know if their pension pot will be big enough to afford a comfortable lifestyle in retirement? According to a report by the Pension and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA), some of the blame for this worrying...
read more
The search for a reliable retirement income
It’s been almost four years since the April 2015 pensions changes which scrapped compulsory annuities and gave pensioners greater choice over how to take their retirement income. This historic change to UK pension legislation opened up a range of investment...
read more
The Gender Pension Gap
If you overheard a conversation about the gender gap, you might automatically think about it in terms of pay, given the relatively recent requirement for firms with more than 250 employees to disclose their pay data. What is less well known though is the gender...
read more
Auto enrolment contributions
The introduction of automatic enrolment in 2012 has led to a record high in pension participation, with more than 9.5 million people enrolled through the scheme. But contributions are at minimum levels, ONS data has shown The number of employees who contribute to a...
read more
Saving for Junior
Junior ISAs (JISA) are long-term, tax-efficient savings accounts for children, introduced in November 2011 to supersede the phased-out Child Trust Fund (CTF). There are two types of JISA: A cash Junior ISA - where you won’t pay tax on interest on the cash you save A...
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What’s stopping you from saving?
Generally speaking, and subject to investment charges and performance, the more you save and the earlier you start saving the better shape your finances are going to be in when you need to draw on them. So why is it then that many of us are reluctant to put money...
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The Junior ISA
Junior ISAs (JISA) are long-term, tax-efficient savings accounts for children, introduced in November 2011 to supersede the phased-out Child Trust Fund (CTF). There are two types of JISA: A cash Junior ISA - where you won’t pay tax on interest on the cash you save A...
read more
Need Help To Buy?
2018 began with a surprising pick-up in house price growth, up 0.6% month-on-month with January seeing a ten-month high increase of 3.2 per cent. Even with the wider economy and Brexit developments, the housing market activity is only expected to slow a modest amount....
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What’s the point of a property survey?
You're not bound by law to have a survey done on a property you're buying, but while it may feel like an unnecessary expense given all the other costs involved in homebuying, it could actually save money and stress in the longer-term. A survey is basically a health...
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Protection in trust
Taking out a Life Insurance policy gives you valuable peace of mind; you know you’ve helped protect your family against financial hardship, should the worst happen. But how can you make sure your policy will pay out quickly, to those who’ll need it most, if you...
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Are you thinking of downsizing?
According to a survey by Lloyds Bank, 45 per cent of empty nesters have no plans to downsize, despite the potential windfall moving to a smaller place could create. For these empty nesters then, life seems pretty comfortable, but their new-found wellbeing could be at...
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The New Financial Year
The 2018/19 tax year starts at the stroke of midnight between the 5th and 6th of April. While many individuals leave tax planning to the end of the tax year, you can look to maximise the benefits by using your personal tax allowances* and reliefs straight away. ...
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