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Examining The Costs Of The Back To School Season
Summer ends, school starts and parents around the country collectively breathe a sigh of relief. This sigh is, however, often made through gritted teeth as parents shoulder the costs of buying everything a child needs for school. With COVID19 having decimated the...
National Insurance Contribution Changes
Social Care Reform
Understanding Inheritance Tax
The basic idea behind Inheritance Tax (IHT) is simple. When you die, the value of your estate will be assessed and if it falls over a certain threshold, HMRC will claim a share of it. In practice, however, your tax liability can depend largely on your ability to plan...
Understanding Inheritance Tax
The basic idea behind Inheritance Tax (IHT) is simple. When you die, the value of your estate will be assessed and if it falls over a certain threshold, HMRC will claim a share of it. In practice, however, your tax liability can depend largely on your ability to plan...
Love, Remarriage and Inheritances
As the law currently stands, if a person is married or in a civil partnership, their spouse/civil partner has first claim on their estate if they die. Provision may be made for minor children but not for adult ones (barring special circumstances). This fact has...
How To Plan For Inheritance Tax
Following the news that thousands more people are expected to pay the standard 40% inheritance tax this year because of the effects of the pandemic, we explore some of the ways to navigate the complexities of inheritance tax. The complex laws around inheritance tax...
The Bank of…Granny and Grandad?
For many younger people struggling to get a foot on the property ladder, the Bank of Mum and Dad is the only option. With rent taking a huge chunk out of their income and the requirement for increasingly onerous deposits, two in five renters do not believe they will...
Insurance For The Self-employed
When you’re self-employed you don’t have employer benefits to fall back on. In fact, you might even be the employer needing to organise (and pay for) employee benefits. You’ll definitely be responsible for protecting any assets related to your business. With that...
What Insurance Do You Need?
The pandemic highlighted the importance of insurance. More particularly it highlighted the importance of having the right type and level of cover for your needs. With the UK starting to return to some kind of normality, now is arguably a good time to review your own...
How Will You Protect Your Pet?
Pet insurance can be a bit of a controversial topic amongst pet owners. Some people wouldn’t be without it. Other people think it’s over-priced and never there when you need it. Here are some points to consider when deciding whether or not it’s right for you. Can...
Death Cover – Are You and Yours Protected?
Losing your partner at any stage in life can be devastating, but it may be particularly devastating when children are involved because of the financial pressures of raising a family. Ensuring your children and other dependants are provided for in case you die should...
Understanding Buy To Let
The Buy to Let strategy allows onward movers to convert their old home into an investment property instead of selling it. This can be an interesting option. Like all investment decisions, however, it does need to be assessed carefully. The basics of let to buy There...
New Year (Some) New Rules
While the calendar year is already a third of the way through, the financial year is just beginning. As with most financial years, some key points stay the same (or at least much the same) while some change. With that in mind, here’s a quick rundown of the...
Where Now For Mortgages?
The Stamp Duty holiday appears to have stimulated the housing market. It is, however, only of benefit to people who can afford to buy. For many people, their ability to buy depends on their ability to get a mortgage. Right now, however, that is a major challenge for a...
Get mortgage fit for 2021
Estimates suggest that well over one million borrowers have lapsed onto their lender’s default standard variable rate (SVR). Has this happened to you? If so, now could be the perfect time to consider a remortgage, to get your finances in good shape for the year ahead....
Covering the cost of the ageing process
Growing up is optional but growing older is mandatory for as long as you live. Ageing disgracefully can be a lot of fun but it’s important to realise that your post-work years can now stretch on for decades. You need to think about what the ageing process could mean...
What Does An Executor Do?
If you leave a will (which is highly recommended), then you can name up to four executors. As the name of the role suggests, the executors are the people with both the authority and the responsibility to ensure that a person’s estate is wound up in accordance with the...
Can You Afford Your Pension Income?
Since April 2015, pension savers have been able to choose between buying an annuity and receiving a standard investment income. Getting this decision right can make a huge difference to a person’s retirement. That’s why the government is taking steps to ensure that...
Should you be Pension Planning?
Plan for what is difficult while it is easy – Sun Tzu We all know we need to save for our pension, don’t we? But we also know it’s not always that easy to find the spare cash required to do so, especially amid a global pandemic. Research studies, though, typically...
What Does An Executor Do?
If you leave a will (which is highly recommended), then you can name up to four executors. As the name of the role suggests, the executors are the people with both the authority and the responsibility to ensure that a person’s estate is wound up in accordance with the...
When Can You Retire?
Over recent years, the state pension has made the headlines fairly regularly. One of the reasons for this is the increase in state pension age. Now, the government is proposing to increase the age at which people can access private pensions. Depending on your...
How To Avoid Being A Poverty-Stricken Pensioner
If you’re on a defined-benefits (“final-salary”) pension, then you’re probably either already drawing it or in the public sector. For most people, defined-contributions (money purchase) pensions are the only option available now. That means the onus is on you to...
Can You Afford Your Pension Income?
Since April 2015, pension savers have been able to choose between buying an annuity and receiving a standard investment income. Getting this decision right can make a huge difference to a person’s retirement. That’s why the government is taking steps to ensure that...
Making the Most of Your ISA Allowance
The COVID19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of having both cash savings and insurance (for all the complaints about the latter). At the same time, it’s still important to prepare for the future, especially your retirement. Your ISA allowance could be used...
The Bank of…Granny and Grandad?
For many younger people struggling to get a foot on the property ladder, the Bank of Mum and Dad is the only option. With rent taking a huge chunk out of their income and the requirement for increasingly onerous deposits, two in five renters do not believe they will...
Why are equities volatile?
The more experienced investors among us will know that investing in equities involves a more volatile journey than some other asset classes, such as fixed income. What causes this volatility? When you invest in a bond, you are effectively lending money to the issuer,...
A global approach to asset allocation
Asset allocation is one of the key tools in our investment proposition to help strike the right balance between risk and reward in your portfolio. It applies to asset classes, such as equities, bonds and cash, and different global regions. The actively-managed Omnis...
Insurance For The Self-employed
When you’re self-employed you don’t have employer benefits to fall back on. In fact, you might even be the employer needing to organise (and pay for) employee benefits. You’ll definitely be responsible for protecting any assets related to your business. With that...
Pension Calculator
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Bridging Finance
If you’re an existing homeowner and you want or need to move, there’s a lot to be said for moving into your new property before you sell your old one. The main advantage is that you know you have somewhere to go. This saves you either having to rush to find a...
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...
