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Cutting The Cost Of Childcare
Childcare is notoriously expensive. In fact, many parents find that childcare is more expensive than either rent or a mortgage. The good news is that there is government help available. Here is what you need to know about it. The main childcare schemes The main...
Bringing Up The F Word
Having difficult conversations is a part of life. This means that everybody needs to develop a strategy for dealing with them. If you’re struggling to discuss the F word - Finance, then here are some tips to help. Start with why Start by verbalising why you feel...
What You Need To Know About The National Insurance Rise
Despite a manifesto promise and massive controversy, the government is going ahead and raising National Insurance in April. The increase itself is only for a year. After that National Insurance will return to normal and a new Health and Social Care Levy will be...
Key Dates
Key Dates For Your Finances 2022 Now’s a good time to make sure your fully prepared for the financial year ahead. To make it easy we’ve summarised the key dates and facts and figures below. 1 April National Living Wage (for age 23+) rises from £8.91 to £9.50 National...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Protecting Your Home Against Life’s Curveballs
Even if you’re renting, you need to think about protecting your tenancy. Here are some tips to help.
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...
Are You A New First-Time Buyer?
Last year, saw 408,379 people collect the keys to their first home. It was the first year the number of first-time buyers had exceeded 400K since 2006. If you were one of those first-time buyers, you might be feeling somewhat nervous about the future. Here are some...
The pros and cons of 40-year mortgages
The UK mortgage market has a wide selection of both variable-rate and fixed-rate mortgages. It also has other niche mortgage products such as offset mortgages. One of the more recent entrants to the market is the 40-year mortgage on a fixed rate. In principle, this...
Talking Points
The Gender Pay Gap And The Property Market
In the UK, women, legally, have equal standing with men. This equality, however, does not necessarily manifest itself in terms of pay. As a result, women can find it even more of a struggle to get on the property ladder. Fortunately, there are ways for women, and...
Should You Consolidate Your Pensions?
The modern pensions landscape is something of a contradiction. On the one hand, pensions are often linked to employment. On the other hand, people will often have several employers over their working life. This can lead to them having multiple pensions. It,...
What You Need To Know About Protecting Your Pension
With great freedom comes great responsibility. With pensions freedoms comes the responsibility to protect your pension from scammers, (as well as the effects of inflation and potentially ending up in the wrong hands after your death). Here is a quick guide to what...
The pros and cons of 40-year mortgages
The UK mortgage market has a wide selection of both variable-rate and fixed-rate mortgages. It also has other niche mortgage products such as offset mortgages. One of the more recent entrants to the market is the 40-year mortgage on a fixed rate. In principle, this...
How Will Millennials Fund Retirement?
National Insurance contributions do not pay for your state pension. They are simply contributions to government coffers to be spent as the government sees fit. Under current rules, those contributions do entitle you to a state pension (eventually). Those rules can,...
What You Need To Know About Protecting Your Pension
With great freedom comes great responsibility. With pensions freedoms comes the responsibility to protect your pension from scammers, (as well as the effects of inflation and potentially ending up in the wrong hands after your death). Here is a quick guide to what...
Talking Points
How Will Millennials Fund Retirement?
National Insurance contributions do not pay for your state pension. They are simply contributions to government coffers to be spent as the government sees fit. Under current rules, those contributions do entitle you to a state pension (eventually). Those rules can,...
Retirement For The Self-Employed
Time famously waits for nobody. Growing up may be optional but growing old is a reality. This means that everybody has to plan for it. If you’re a paid employee, the chances are that your retirement arrangements will be linked to your job. If, however, you’re...
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...
All about ISAs
In the 2019/20 tax year, you can save up to £20,000 tax-free in an Individual Savings Account (ISA), and when it comes to your ISA investment, you have a number of options. Investors comfortable with the slightly higher risk Peer to Peer lending can also now invest in...
How a trust can help your financial planning
Writing a policy in Trust could be perceived as something that only the wealthy require, but the reality is Trusts can play an important part in financial planning for people from all walks of life. When it comes to planning your family’s financial future it makes...
Helping you to save
Help to Save is a government savings account aimed at an estimated 3.5m people on low incomes. The scheme pays a bonus of 50p for every pound saved over four years, representing better value compared to the 1 - 2 per cent returns on savings bonds offered by high...
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...
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...
Getting Ready To Meet The Grim Reaper
Do you know how your family would cope after your death? It's not an easy question to answer, or a nice subject to think about, but you could help to make their lives easier by setting up a Whole of Life plan, getting your finances in order and making a detailed will....
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 equivalent of your current salary you've probably overestimated. Remember, by the time you retire, you will hopefully have...